Family Reunion
by E.Madden
Summary: As Sydney discovers her mother’s side of the family is a bit more extended than she expected, she learns about a new Rambaldi prophecy that involves her unborn child. My own created Season Five. Last Chapter is up!
1. Chapter 1

1**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the _Alias _characters.

**Time line: **Sometime during the beginning of Season Five, possibly after the episode "Solo."

**Summary:** As Sydney discovers her mother's side of the family is a bit more extended than she expected, she learns about a new Rambaldi prophecy that involves her unborn child.

**Author's Note: **Hello everyone. This is only my second fan fiction. I wrote a previous one for Law and Order: SVU. Now it might take a while for the actual plot to arise so don't be disappointed if the first chapters you read don't have to do exactly with the summary. Please enjoy and reviews are appreciated.

**Chapter I.**

**LOS ANGELES**

She was awake but kept her eyes closed. She didn't want to get up. She heard the shower running. Despite the cover of her eye lids, she could tell the sun was shining bright. She flipped over to shield herself from the sun but it didn't seem to help. After laying in the bed for about thirty seconds she opened her eyes.

The sunlight lit up the bedroom. She was alone in her bed which she was beginning to get use to nowadays but she still didn't like the feeling. She sat up and remembered that she was pregnant. She smiled when she remembered this and then stepped out of bed.

Sydney Bristow first gazed into her large mirror. Day by day she was getting bigger as the baby grew. And the more it grew, the less she could do with herself. She walked out of her room and down the hall into the kitchen.

Sydney fixed herself a bowl of cereal and poured herself a glass of milk. She sat herself at the counter and began eating as she skimmed through a magazine. It wasn't long until the shower stopped and Rachel Gibson came into the kitchen, dressed and ready for work.

"You're up early," Sydney said to her.

Rachel smiled. "I know, I decided to set an alarm. I didn't wake you did I?" Rachel walked over to the cabinet, grabbed a bowl and a glass.

"Not at all," said Sydney.

Rachel poured herself milk and then filled the bowl with cereal. She then sat herself across from Sydney and began eating.

"Sorry if I'm overstaying my visit," Rachel said.

"You're not. You can stay here as long as you want," said Sydney. "Anyway, it feels good to have some company around the house."

"Your sister stayed with you, right?" asked Rachel.

Sydney paused briefly, remembering Nadia.

"Yeah," she answered.

After finishing her breakfast, Sydney got up and brought her dishes to the sink.

"I better go get ready," she said.

After about thirty minutes, a showered and neatly dressed Sydney met Rachel in the living room of her home. Rachel was sitting on the couch reading. Sydney liked Rachel. She kept seeing herself in her. Sydney felt that she was responsible to take care of Rachel after all she went through.

"Ready to go?" asked Sydney.

Rachel looked up. "Yup." She put her book down on the coffee desk. Sydney grabbed her large purse and Rachel grabbed hers and the two left the house.

The two arrived at APO, a secret Black-Ops division of the CIA. They each went to their own desks, which were not very far from each other. Sydney turned on her computer and waited for it to load.

As she waited Marshall came up to her.

"Good morning Syd," greeted Marshall.

"Morning Marshall," she said smiling. "How's Mitchell doing?"

"Um, he's doing fine. He still wakes up in the night a lot. I can't wait until he learns to talk. I'm trying to teach him the word Dad but it doesn't seem to be working."

Sydney smiled.

"Well, I'll uh, be im my office, where I normally am," he said as he began walking away. He greeted Rachel before entering his office.

Sydney turned to her computer and was about to begin using it when Marcus Dixon came up to her. "Briefing," he said. "You and Miss Gibson are needed." Rachel heard her name and got up with Sydney and followed Dixon to the briefing room. Sydney's father, Jack was already waiting along with Thomas Grace who was sitting. Sloane sat next to Jack. Sydney sat down and Rachel sat next to her. Dixon seated himself across from Sydney, next to Grace.

"Where's Marshall?" asked Jack.

"He should be coming soon," answered Dixon. "I thought he was already in here."

Jack was about to speak when Marshall rushed in.

"Sorry I'm little late," he said as he sat himself a seat away from Rachel.

Jack ignored him and began to speak.

"We have received recent Intel about another Rambaldi artifact which is in Portugal," he said. "Rachel, I presume you've heard of Rambaldi?"

Rachel nodded.

Jack continued. "We are unsure at the moment what this artifact is or does but it has been hiding in Portugal for some time now."

"Are the Portugese the ones in control of it?" asked Dixon.

"No," answered Jack. "They have just recently discovered it is in their country and they are not too happy about it. We are unsure of it's location."

"We think it might be the cure for Nadia," said Sloane with much hope.

"Do we know _who _is in control of it?" asked Sydney.

"Yes," he answered. "Elena Derevko was the one who was hiding it from the CIA and the Portugese government."

"And Elena didn't tell you about this artifact when you were working with her?" asked Dixon to Sloane.

Sloane paused briefly. He tried to hide the fact that he was enraged that Dixon would bring that up. "Unfortunately no," he answered.

"But Elena is dead now, how is she still in control of it?" asked Sydney.

"She's not," answered Jack.

"Then who is?" asked Sydney.

"Her son," he answered. Jack pressed a button on a computer in front of him that brought up a picture on a large screen behind him. There was a man, getting ready to get into a limo. He had dark sunglasses on and looked to be about Sydney's age. His hair was brown and a bit on the longer side. He had a small stubble on his face. He wore a black suit with white pinstripes. The undershirt of his suit was buttoned open at the top exposing his chest. Two guards were standing on either side of him.

"His name is Christoph Madeira," said Jack. "It was unknown that Elena had a son until now."

Sydney looked a bit shocked. She never knew much about her family and it didn't help that most of her family were criminals. At least on her mother's side.

"Who is his father?" asked Sydney.

Jack pressed another button on the computer in front of him. A picture came up next to Christoph's.

"Emanuel Madeira. He was an agent for the Portuguese government."

"What do you mean, he _was_?" asked Rachel

"He was murdered by Elena sixteen years ago," answered Jack. "We still do not know why."

There was a short silence amongst the agents.

"You are to retrieve the Rambaldi artifact and take Christoph Madeira into custody," said Jack. "We'll need to learn what exactly this artifact does and if it is dangerous. Sydney, Dixon, Grace, and Gibson I'm sending you all in. This is a very important mission. Now we know Christoph Madeira owns a penthouse in the city of Lisbon. The whole 16th floor of the building is practically guarded with men and a high-tech security system which you'll need to break into."

Marshall stood up taking his turn. "Now Mr. Dixon and Miss Brist...Vaug...?"

"It's still Bristow," said Sydney managing a small smile.

"Yes of course, sorry. Mr. Dixon and Miss Bristow, you two need to get behind the lobby desk which will lead you to a hallway. You have to go into room 3C and take out any guards there. Here in room 3C is the camera shots that Mr. Madeira's men have on the 16th floor."

Dixon and Sydney nodded.

"Mr. Madeira has this building heavily guarded," said Jack. "Think before you act. Agent Gibson you will be going to the 16th floor."

"You need to have Mr. Madeira's trust," said Marshall. "So you'll be going in as a...well...um...a lady friend..."

"A prostitute," interrupted Jack.

"Yeah," said Marshall. "That."

"You are going to be a prostitute who is looking for Christoph because you recently met him in a club. Get the guards to lead you to his room. After the training you've had, this shouldn't be too difficult."

Rachel nodded but didn't really seem to like the idea of being a prostitute.

"You need to find out if the artifact is in his apartment," said Jack. "Now if you can't seem to find the artifact we will send Agent Grace to the 16th floor. Agent Grace you will proceed to his room, take out as many guards as you can if possible all eleven of them."

"Now if Agent Grace has to go to the 16th floor," said Marshall as he handed Dixon a disk. "On this disk it has frozen images of the empty hallways. You, Agent Dixon and Agent Bristow will need to replace the camera shot with the pictures on the disk so the guards on the 16th floor won't be able to see Grace on their cameras and you'll be the only one with the real shots."

"Agent Grace, when you get to the room I want you to interrogate Mr. Madeira. Agent Gibson, act as though shocked when you see Agent Grace but if he is in need of help, assist him. We want this to run as smoothly as possible. Any questions?"

Nobody responded.

"Good," said Jack. "Have a safe trip."

**LISBON**

Sydney walked in after Dixon, who held the door for her and acted as if he didn't know her. She was wearing a short blonde wig with glasses. She wore a long blue skirt with a blue blazer. Dixon wore glasses as well. He wore a wig of black hair which was longer than his own. He was wearing an expensive suit to fit into the crowd of people in the hotel.

Sydney approached the front desk where a man was standing. He was young and had his hair slicked back. He was dressed in an expensive suit and he looked up at Sydney as she approached.

"Boa vinda a nosso hotel," said the man. "Como posso eu lhe ajudar?"

Sydney understood his words. And she responded, "Você fala o inglês?"

"Yes I do," said the man with a heavy accent.

"Thank god," said Sydney in a British accent. "I'm lost. I was suppose to meet my husband at a certain store but I can't seem to find it and nobody speaks English around here."

The man smiled. "Let me help you."

"Oh thank you," she said.

As she talked, Dixon began speaking to the other man at the counter. Dixon told the man that he was here for a job interview. The other desk manager looked a bit confused and then told Dixon to follow him. Dixon went behind the desk and followed the man. He lead Dixon to a door in the back and he opened it. It lead to a hallway, just like Marshall said. The man let Dixon step into the hallway before shutting the door. He then began leading Dixon down the hall. A couple of steps down Dixon stopped the man. The man turned around, confused but before he could ask anything, Dixon sprayed him in the face with a sleeping gas. The man collapsed but Dixon caught him before hitting the ground. Dixon then put him in a storage closet which he'd lay in for the next several hours. Dixon then began going down the hall and he spoke into his unseen mouth piece.

"I'm heading to room 3C," he said. Sydney heard him, back at the front desk as she explained her travels to the desk manager who was quickly becoming uninterested.

Dixon reached room 3C and as quietly as possible, opened the door. A man was sitting at a desk looking at security cameras which were placed on the 16th floor.

"Desculpe-me?" said Dixon. _Excuse me._

The man jumped up and turned around. He pointed his gun at Dixon.

"Eu sou pesaroso que eu procurava o banheiro," said Dixon. The man lowered his gun a bit, but just as he did so, Dixon sprayed the man with the sleeping gas. The man quickly fell unconscious to the floor.

"Damn, this sleeping gas is useful," said Dixon. "Saves a lot of time."

Sydney smiled to herself when she heard him.

"I'm in the room Phoenix, come on down," said Dixon Phoenix was of course, Sydney's code name.

"Um, do you have a bathroom," asked Sydney.

"Yes," answered the man. He pointed over to a bathroom quite a distance away. "We have facilities right over there."

"Oh bloody. They're quite far away," said Sydney. "Are there any closer ones? It's kind of an emergency."

The man looked at her for a moment and then said, "Yes behind that door." He pointed to the door Dixon had gone through.

"May I please use it?" she asked.

He thought for a moment and then came to the decision that she was no danger to the hotel or anything beyond the door.

"Yes you may," said the man. Sydney went behind the counter. "Thank you so much." She quickly went through the door and shut it. She walked down the hall to room 3C.

"I'm coming in," she said into her mouth piece. She opened the door and found Dixon already at the computers. She stepped over the unconscious guard and sat in the seat next to Dixon.

"Oracle, you're ready to go," said Sydney into her mouth piece.

Back at the front door of the lobby, Rachel Gibson walked in. She wore a multicolored skirt that exposed a great deal of her legs. She wore a fur coat over a tube top that exposed a lot of cleavage. She had on high black leather boots that reached just under her kneecaps. Purple sunglasses covered her eyes and her wig was wavy and brown.

She stopped and looked around the large lobby.

"I can't do this guys," she muttered into her mouth piece.

"Yes you can. You did great with your training," assured Sydney. "You can do this."

Rachel began walking to the elevator. She passed a pool and waved at a couple of guys who stared at her beauty. She then entered an elevator and pressed the number sixteen. The elevator began moving upward.

"Is it normal for your heart to be beating five times faster than normal?" asked Rachel into her mouth piece.

"Yes," answered Sydney.

The elevator reached the 16th floor and Rachel quickly got into her character.

"Oracle, two guards are going to be greeting you," warned Dixon.

The doors opened, and as Dixon had said, two men who guns approached Rachel.

"Quem são você e que você está fazendo aqui?" asked one of the guards.

"Honey," said Rachel. "I don't speak Portuguese, I speak English. Now if you could please direct me to Christoph Madeira. Him and I have some business if you know what I mean." She winked at the guards. One guard smiled but the other kept serious.

Sydney and Dixon watched the whole event through the security camera back at room 3C.

"Verifique-a," said the serious guard to the other. The guard who had smiled at Rachel approached her and felt her with his hands for weapons.

"Don't get too frisky," she said to the guard. When he was done he turned to the other guard.

"Nada," he said.

"Siga-nos," said the other guard as the two began walking away.

"You want me to follow you?" asked Rachel as she watched the two guards walking away. The guard who smiled at her, turned around and motioned for her to follow.

"Alright then," she said and she followed the guards. They brought her in front of a door which they knocked on.

"Oue!" a voice called through the door.

"Você tem um visitante," said the serious guard.

"Eu não quero nenhuns visitantes!" the voice called back.

"Você pôde querer ver seu primeiro," said the other guard.

The door opened and Christoph Madeira was standing in entrance.

Sydney saw her cousin for the first time. He looked the same as he did in the picture, only he didn't have sunglasses and he wore a different suit.

"Quem são você?" asked Mr. Madeira to Rachel.

"Sorry hun, I don't speak Portuguese," she said.

"You are American?" he asked her, still with his accent.

"You bet," she said.

"And what business do you have with me?" he asked.

"I've heard rumors, Mr. Madeira," said Rachel.

"Rumors?" asked Mr. Madeira. "Rumors about what?"

"Your sexual pleasures."

Mr. Madeira smiled and then turned to the guards and said, "Vá." The two guards walked away.

"Come in," he said to Rachel. Rachel walked in and looked around the room.

Sydney and Dixon now could not see Rachel. The security cameras were only placed in the hallways of the 16th floor.

"You have a very nice place," she said to him as she looked around the room hoping to find where the artifact was. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy.

"I've been told that, many times," he said. "Shall I take your coat?"

"Go right ahead," she said. Mr. Madeira removed Rachel's coat. Her top exposed a great deal of her back. Mr. Madeira placed her coat on a coat rack. She turned around to look at him.

"So what rumors have you heard about me?" he asked her smiling.

"Oracle," said Sydney in her mouth piece, "If you ever think you see where the artifact is hidden or if you think you have some clue, cough. If you understand me, start your first sentence with 'honey'.

"Honey," Rachel said to Mr. Madeira. "All in good time. But for now, I was wondering if we could have a drink, maybe wine?"

"Of course," he said. "Right this way."

He lead Rachel to a kitchen. Upon entering it Rachel began looking around for a safe or something of that nature.

"So," said Mr. Madeira. "How do you know of me."

"You don't remember?" asked Rachel.

Mr. Madeira began pouring two glasses of wine.

"I'm afraid I do not."

"At the club, you met me. You said you really liked me and you wanted me to stop by."

The man looked off into the distance, looking as though he was trying to remember the encounter that never happened.

"I don't remember you exactly." He handed Rachel the glass.

"Well you were a bit tipsy." She winked and took a sip.

"What was your name?" he asked her.

"Victoria," said Rachel after swallowing the wine. "Victoria Pierce."

"Well it's nice to meet you Victoria." He took a sip of his wine. "So, do you like the wine?"

Rachel had taken a sip. "It's good. A bit too strong."

"Well that's Portuguese wine for you," he said with a smile of straight, white teeth. He took another sip, as did Rachel. He put the glass down and then said, "Shall we go to the bedroom.

"Of course," he said. She placed the glass on the counter behind her. "Lead the way."

"Right this way." He walked off and Rachel muttered in his mouth piece, "I am not having sex with this guy." She followed him into his bedroom.

The bedroom was well decorated with gold. There was a large king sized bed with red sheets and plenty of pillows. Above the bed was a mirror with a gold rim. There was a plasma television across from the bed on the wall. Rachel walked over to the large gold bedpost that reached the ceiling. "Looks comfortable," she said.

"It is," said Mr. Madeira. "Very comfortable." He approached Rachel and began kissing her neck. Rachel couldn't lie, it felt very good and she enjoyed it. His lips eventually reached hers and they began kissing. His arms came around her's and touched her rear. After about a couple of seconds of the romantic embrace, Rachel stopped.

"May I use your bathroom?" she asked. "To slip into something more...comfortable?"

He smiled at her. "Go right ahead. I think I'll do the same."

"Good," she said. She walked away, carrying her large purse and walked into the master bathroom which came off of the room. She shut and locked the door. Rachel walked far away from the door as possible and then spoke into her mouth piece.

"Outrigger, Phoenix, I don't see any safe where the Rambaldi artifact could be. I think you should send Sidewinder in." Sidewinder was Thomas's Grace's code name.

"Alright, distract Mr. Madeira," responded Sydney.

"So I actually have to change?" Rachel asked. "Into my underwear?"

"Sorry but yes," said Sydney. "I'll tell you when Sidewinder is approaching."

Rachel changed from her skirt into her brazier and underwear. She then opened the door to the bathroom to find Christoph Madeira in nothing but his boxers. He was leaning against the bedpost. He was in very good shape and Rachel became a bit distracted by his body.

"You look very beautiful," he said to her.

"Thank you," said Rachel, keeping her cover. She approached him and pushed him playfully on the bed. She then crawled onto the bed and approached him. Right away she began kissing him. Although he was very good at pleasing her, she tried to keep it in her mind that she was on a mission and that Christoph Madeira was a criminal.

Back in room 3C, Dixon called Grace on a cell phone.

Grace picked up the phone from the phone booth, outside the hotel.

"Hello?" he called into the receiver.

"Is this Mr. Spenalzo?" asked Dixon.

"Nope, wrong number," answered Grace.

"Oh okay," Dixon hung up. This conversation was the signal for Grace to enter the hotel. He walked through the front door of the large hotel and quickly approached an empty elevator. He got in and pressed the button for the 16th floor. While in the elevator he put in his mouth piece and ear piece.

"This is Sidewinder," he said into his mouth piece.

"We copy," said Dixon.

Grace took out his tranquilizer.

"Alright," said Dixon. He put in the disk Marshall had given him. He quickly replaced the camera shots with the stilled photographs of the empty halls. "The security cameras are taken care of. Sidewinder, right when the elevator opens, there will be two guards there."

Right as the elevator opened, Grace shot the two guards. He then put the two guards into the elevator, pressed the emergency stopped button and shut the doors. "Two guards have been taken out," he said into his mouth piece.

Rachel was now laying down on the bed on her back. Christoph Madeira was kissing her on her neck. She prayed that Tom was coming soon. She couldn't take this any longer. It felt good, she couldn't lie about that but the fact that she was romantically engaging with a man she didn't even know made her sick to her stomach, slightly.

Christoph Madeira moved his arms around her back and lifted her from her laying position. The two now were both sitting up on the bed. Rachel felt Mr. Madeira's hands reaching for her bra strap. It was then that she realized he was trying to take it off of her. She quickly back away, towards the head of the bed, and his hands let go of her.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

Rachel paused not sure of what to say. She then heard Sydney's voice through her ear piece.

Rachel quickly covered. "Not just yet," she said. "You haven't been good enough to deserve that yet." Rachel grinned at Mr. Madeira who returned the smile with a set of bright, white teeth. He then crawled over to her, across the large king sized bed. She waited for him. When he reached her, he bent in and kissed her on the lips. Rachel closed her eyes and felt the warmth of his lips.

Then all of a sudden, his lips came off of hers. For the split second when Rachel's eyes were closed, she thought that Tom had come but she was wrong. As she opened her eyes, she was quickly turned onto her stomach, on the bed. She felt someone on top of her, near her lower back. Soon after she felt the scope of a gun to the back of her head.

Christoph Madeira was now on top of her back, with his knees on either side of her, pressed against the bed.

"Don't you move," he said to her.

Rachel quickly returned to her character and tried not to panic.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm not an idiot," he said to her. "Who do you work for?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Don't play dumb with me!" he commanded. "I heard you in the bathroom. Who do you work for and why do you want the Rambaldi Artifact?"

Rachel was speechless. She had been caught.

"Oracle," said Sydney. "Don't panic."

"Who do you work for?" demanded Mr. Madeira who was beginning to lose his patience with Rachel. Rachel didn't answer.

"Sidewinder is coming to the door, hang in there," said Sydney to Rachel.

"I'm growing tired of you," said Mr. Madeira. "Who do you work for?"

"Please don't hurt me," said Rachel beginning to cry. She couldn't keep herself from panicking.

"Tell me who you work for," demanded Mr. Madeira again, "Or I'll shoot you."

Just as he said his last word, Rachel felt the pressure of Mr. Madeira leave her back and the scope of the gun wasn't at her head. She quickly turned over and sat up. Tom was in the room now, holding a heavy coat rack. Thomas Grace had hit Mr. Madeira over the head with the coat rack. Mr. Madeira was now on the floor, on the opposite side of the bed.

"Where's the gun?" asked Rachel.

"Over there on the floor," answered Grace. He put the coat rack down. Rachel looked and saw the gun just a few feet from Mr. Madeira. Tom went over and was about to grab it when Mr. Madeira grabbed Grace's foot. Tom fell to the floor. Mr. Madeira got up and began crawling to the gun. Grace tried to stop him and grabbed his foot but Mr. Madeira kicked him in the face. Madeira continued his crawl towards the gun and went to reach for it. But Rachel managed to get to the gun quickly enough so that she kicked it away from his grasp. He looked up at her.

"You bitch," he said. He stood up and began approaching her.

Rachel tried to think quick. She threw a punch with her right hand. Mr. Madeira dodged the fist and grabbed her arm. Rachel then threw her left fist at Mr. Madeira. She hit him in the jaw and he released his hold on her right arm. Mr. Madeira put his hand to his mouth and discovered that he was bleeding. He then looked at Rachel with a deep, dark, blue glare.

It sent a cold fear through Rachel's veins. He quickly began approaching her. Rachel lifted her right leg and attempted to kick him. But Mr. Madeira grabbed her leg and then put his hand to her throat. He lifted her up and Rachel lost air. He spun her around and threw her against the wall.

Pain flew through Rachel's back as she fell to the floor. She looked up and saw Mr. Madeira approaching her once again. But before he could reach her, Grace had gotten up and grabbed him from the back. Grace threw Christoph across the room. He hit an end table, knocking over a lamp. He collided with the floor.

Tom quickly turned to Rachel.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," said Rachel. Grace looked back at Christoph Madeira. He was now up on his feet. Tom began approaching him and he waited. When Tom reached him he threw his right fist at him. Christoph ducked quickly and swiped his leg, attempting to trip Tom. But Tom, jumped over Christoph's leg. Christoph had gotten to his feet, by the time Tom had landed. Christoph then lifted his leg and kicked Tom in the abdomen. Tom was pushed back a couple of steps and was slightly winded. This gave Christoph another shot. Christoph threw his right fist at Tom Grace. The fist hit Tom in the cheek. He stumbled to the group to one knee. Christoph Madeira then lifted his leg again and sent it aimed at Tom's face. Tom managed to block the leg with his arm. He quickly returned to his feet and backed off. Mr. Madeira gave no time for Tom to recover. He charged at him. With his quick reflexes, Tom turned at an angle, and flipped Christoph over his back. Christoph's back collided with the floor. He rolled over onto his stomach in pain.

"Tom," said Rachel. Tom turned and Rachel tossed him the gun. He caught it and quickly aimed it at Christoph. But his aim didn't last long. Christoph was now on his hands and knees. With his quick speed, Christoph kicked the gun out of Grace's hands. The gun went flying across the room, it hit a wall and landed far away from all three of them. Grace watched where it landed and when he looked back, Christoph kicked him in the stomach again. As Grace stumbled back, Christoph got up. He threw his fist at Grace but Grace blocked it with his arm and then took a swing at Christoph. Christoph shifted to the side, dodging Tom's fist by inches. Christoph then took his turn and attempted to kick Grace in the ribs. Grace pushed the leg away. He took another swing at Christoph, this time aiming for his chest. Christoph jumped back and Grace's fist missed him. Grace stepped towards Christoph and threw an uppercut at Christoph. This shot hit Christoph in the chin. Christoph fell back onto the floor. Grace quickly approached him but Christoph recovered from the shot. He lifted both his legs and kicked Grace in the shins. Grace faltered backwards giving time for Christoph to return to his own feet. As he did so, Christoph threw his fist at Grace's cheek. His fist hit Grace, causing Tom to fall onto the floor. As he began approaching Grace who was lying on the floor, Rachel leaped onto Christoph's back.

Her legs wrapped around his mid-section and she began clawing his bear back, bear chest, and face. He yelled in agony as her nails dug into his skin. Christoph stumbled around the room with Rachel on his back. Christoph then ran backwards into a wall, sandwiching Rachel. This did seem to slow the scratching down but she still was on his back. He did it a second time but Rachel still didn't get off. He then reached for the back of her hair and flipped her over his back. She landed on the floor and moaned in pain. He was about to go after her when he remembered Grace. Christoph turned around and was punched in the face. Grace had gotten up.

Christoph stumbled a bit backward. Grace gave him no time to attack. He grabbed Christoph's shoulder and threw him again. This time Christoph collided with the wall, near the end table before hitting the floor. Grace quickly went over to him but Christoph grabbed the lamp, lying on the floor next to him. He tossed the lamp and hit Tom in the face, giving Christoph time to get up.

Christoph was now completely fired up with anger. He was in plenty of pain because of Rachel and Tom. He quickly approached Tom and threw his fist at Tom's face. Tom dodged the fist barely. Christoph threw his other fist but Tom dodged it again. In much anger and frustration, Christoph lifted his leg and attempted to roundhouse kick Tom. Christoph's leg was aimed right for Tom's head. Tom ducked and the leg missed him. Because of all the force Christoph put into kicking Tom, Christoph did a complete 180 turn and his back was now to Tom.

Tom took this time to his advantage. He got close, right behind Christoph, and wrapped his right arm around Christoph's neck. There was a quick struggle from Christoph. He grabbed Grace's arm and attempted to pry it off his neck. But Tom had a firm lock around his neck and was not letting go. The two pushed each other all around the room. Christoph began to lose his breath and was becoming lightheaded. He attempted to lift Grace over his back. Grace's feet only left the ground briefly before returning. Christoph also tried running backwards into the walls so that Grace's back and head would collide with them but that didn't work either. Grace kept his arm wrapped around.

Christoph began to lose vision but he kept on struggling. Grace could clearly see he was becoming weak. Christoph lost feeling in his legs and then fell backwards. Grace landed on the bed with Christoph on top of him. Grace kept his hold as Christoph continued to struggle but was losing his strength rapidly.

Rachel slowly began getting up in much pain. Her back killed. She saw the two on the bed. It wasn't long until Christoph was knocked out.

When Grace realized Christoph had lost conscience, he removed his arm from around Christoph's neck.

"You okay?" he asked Rachel, putting Christoph on the bed.

"Yeah I'm fine," answered Rachel. "You?"

"Couldn't be better."

**LOS ANGELES**

Christoph Madeira paced the room of a cell in the APO vicinity. He had just recently woken up. He was still dizzy and his neck hurt terribly. He was going to kill that man. The people at APO had kindly given him a t-shirt to put on along with his boxers but he was still cold.

There were no windows in the cell. Just a bed, a toilet and a clear plastic or maybe glass wall. On the other side of the wall, down a hall, stood a guard with a large gun. He showed no expression on his face. Christoph walked up to the glass and leaned against it. He looked at the guard who made no sign of him noticing the movement of Christoph.

"Hey," said Christoph. "You there."

The guard didn't look at him.

"Where am I?" he asked.

Again, there was no response.

"Hello?" asked Christoph.

The guard continued to ignore him.

"Hey, where the hell am..."

Just then a woman walked through the door. She had brown hair that went past her shoulders. She was pregnant and she wore a dark blue sweater with dark blue pants.

"You're in a cell," she answered Christoph as she walked in. She turned to the guard and nodded at him. The guard nodded once and left through the door she came in.

"Thanks sweetie, I know that," Christoph said.

The pregnant woman approached the glass Christoph was leaning on. The two stared at each other briefly.

"Mind telling me where I am?" he asked. Sydney looked straight at his blue eyes. She never thought of who her cousins might be until this day. She knew so little about her family and wanted to learn more but at the same time she was scared.

"You're being kept under the possession of the CIA," she answered. "That's all I can tell you."

Christoph was about to say something but he stopped. He stared at her as though he was trying remember something. He looked confused for a moment.

"What is it?" Sydney asked.

"Haven't I met you before?" he asked her.

"No," she answered. "We haven't met."

"But you look strangely familiar..."

There was a brief pause between the two as he continued to stare at her. Then it came to him.

"You...you look like my aunt," he announced and he seemed to be slightly filled anger.

"Who's your aunt?" asked Sydney, although she knew the answer.

Christoph looked as though he was going to burst in any second. He walked away from the glass and stared at the wall.

"Her name is Irina..." he said a bit hushed. "Irina Derevko."

There was a brief pause. "I know why you hate her," said Sydney.

"Of course you do, the CIA knows everything," he said in disgust.

"I know what she did to your mother."

Christoph didn't say anything. He didn't move a muscle. Sydney's words clearly brought up a thought or memory he didn't want to remember.

"How do you know?" he asked.

Sydney at first didn't answer. She was trying to figure out what his reaction would be. What would he do when he found out that she was his cousin, the cousin that his mother tried to kill?

"I was there."

Christoph quickly turned around and stared at her. He approached the glass.

"Are you..."

"Sydney, yes."

"The Chosen One..." He looked amazed. "I thought it might have been you..." He looked away in disbelief.

"What do you mean?" asked Sydney.

He looked at her and didn't know what to say. "You, uh, look like your mother," he rushed out of his mouth.

There was another pause between the two as they continued to stare.

"So...Sydney...you're my...cousin."

"Yes," Sydney answered.

"Why did your mother shoot mine?" he asked.

Sydney took a deep breath. "Your mother was trying to kill me."

"But that is impossible," he said. "You, you're the Chosen One and...my mother she was a follower..."

"I know this might seem like a lot," said Sydney. "But you've got to listen. The reason why we came after you is we need the artifact you have."

Suddenly Christoph's disposition changed. He grinned evilly at Sydney and walked away from the glass.

"Did you really think it was going to be that easy Sydney?" he asked. "I know what the CIA wants. My mother told me everything. I knew her end game. And you." He turned back around to look at Sydney. "You and your...family destroyed it. Destroyed her end game. And that Mr. Sloane betrayed my mother. He deserves to be dead."

Sloane, along with Jack, Tom, Rachel, and Dixon were watching Christoph and Sydney through a computer screen which Marshall was sitting in front of.

"And your mother. She shot my mother. Right in the forehead and now she is dead. Your mother is a disgrace. And so is your father, Jack Bristow. To think that Irina was really in love with him." He laughed. "It's almost disgusting."

Sydney didn't say anything.

"Yes, Sydney, I know a lot more than you think. You'd be surprised. I've heard so much about you." He walked up to the clear glass. "And now we get to meet face to face."

They stared again at each other. Sydney was now the one filled with rage. Christoph looked down at her stomach.

"Your baby is fatherless...isn't he?" he asked.

Sydney refused to respond as her jaw tightened Christoph looked back at her.

"You don't know how much danger you're in," he said to her. Sydney tried to keep his words out of her head. She couldn't let him see her weak. But they way he rolled the words off his lips sent chills through her. He was just like his mother.

"You're mother was a bad person," said Sydney. "Don't be like her."

Christoph laughed again. "My mother was a bad person. She was strong."

"She killed your father," said Sydney, hoping that maybe this would change his opinion.

"You think I don't know?" he asked. "My mother fell in love with my father, unlike your parents. My parents loved each other so much that my father was willing to join her and the KGB. He spied on his own government for her. But when he was asked to blow up a building he wouldn't. He proved to be weak. So my mother killed him."

"Can't you see you mother is a dictator? She's a criminal," said Sydney.

"You know nothing about my mother!" he screamed.

"You've been brainwashed by your mother for so many years that I feel bac for you."

"Don't," he demanded. "I don't want your filthy sympathy." He spit at the glass. It dripped down.

Sydney had had enough. She glared at Christoph through the glass. "If you don't tell me where that artifact is, I'll be sure to have you killed, just as your mother was."

"Then I'll take it to my grave."

Sydney stared at her cousin for a little while longer. She then walked away. He grinned as she left the hallway.

Sydney walked up to Jack and the rest of the group who were watching Christoph and her.

"I say we torture the son of a bitch," said Sydney.

"It would be my pleasure but I'm sure Director Chase doesn't want that," said Jack.

"Well what do we do then?" asked Rachel.

"There is a search team back at his hotel," said Jack. "They're looking for any information they can find. We've taken in his guards, maybe they'll say something but it's highly doubtful We'll have the facts tomorrow morning. I'll talk to Chase about Madeira."

"I want all four of your reports tomorrow on my desk," said Jack.

Sydney, Tom, Rachel, and Dixon all went off to start on their reports on the mission. Marshall left to go to his office.

When they were all gone Sloane turned to Jack.

"May I have a word with you, Jack?" he asked.

"Of course," answered Jack.

"In private," added Sloane.

"Does my office sound private enough?" Jack asked.

"Yes, it sounds fine."

The two walk to Jack's office. Jack opened the door, let Sloane in, and shut the door behind him. When the door was shut, Jack walked around to his desk and sat himself down.

"What is it that you want to talk to me about?" asked Jack.

"Jack, I've always considered you a friend," said Sloane

There was a brief pause and Jack guessed Sloane wanted him to respond.

"And I consider you one, as well."

"Good. So, when I begin to tell you what I want to talk about, please do not think I am against your judgement and how you are handling this case with the Rambaldi artifact. I just want to voice my opinion."

"Alright."

"Jack, my daughter's life is on the line. I am in desperate need to get this artifact for her. Not for me because I can tell you all are still thinking of my old obsession with Rambaldi. I can see the way you all look at me when his name is mentioned. But I only have one use for this artifact and that is to use it for my daughter. Now, what I want to say is, I don't think you have your best interests about this artifact."

"My best interests, Arvin," said Jack, "are not your concerns."

"You don't understand the importance of this artifact, Jack."

An awkward silence fell between them.

"What I mean," continued Sloane, "is that this could be the artifact that could save my daughter."

"And what if it's not?" asked Jack. "What if the artifact has nothing to do with your daughter's sickness?"

"But if it does Jack," interjected Sloane. "If it does have to do with my daughter's sickness. If it does cure her then all of our best interests should be focused on this artifact."

Just then Sydney walked in. When she saw Sloane in the office she stopped her walk into the office.

"Oh, I'm sorry," apologized Sydney for barging in. "I didn't know..."

"It's alright," said Jack. "We were just finishing." Jack turned back to Sloane. "Thank you, Arvin, for your thoughts. I'll take them into consideration."

Sloane stared at Jack briefly. "Thank you," he said. He then walked past Sydney and out the door. Sydney shut the door and then turned to her father.

"What was that about?" asked Sydney.

"Nothing," answered Jack. "He just wanted to talk about Nadia with me. He needs some reassurance. Can I help you with something?"

"Director Chase is here," said Sydney. "She wants to talk with you."

Jack got up out of his seat and followed Sydney out of the room. When he walked out Director Chase was standing there, arms folded. Sydney and Jack approached her.

"You have Christoph Madeira?" she asked more declaratively than interrogatively.

"Yes," answered Jack.

"Did you get anything out of him?" asked Chase.

"I'm afraid not," answered Jack.

Chase stared at Jack then at Sydney.

"I know what you two are thinking," she said.

"Excuse me?" asked Jack.

"You want to torture the information out of him."

Jack and Sydney looked at each other and then back at Chase.

"We think it might...help to get the location of the artifact," said Jack.

"I'm sorry but I don't think that is the right plan of action and Langley won't approve of it."

"Director Chase, I..." began Sydney.

"It's out of the question Ms. Bristow," interjected Chase. "If he doesn't give the information in two days he will be exiled. Have a good day." She then walked away.

Sydney turned to Jack.

"How are we going to do this, Dad?" asked Sydney. "He's not going to give up the location."

"I know," answered Jack. "Hopefully, the search of his hotel will help us somehow." Jack stopped and looked as though he was trying to decide something. Sydney was waiting for his decision. He then said, "Would you like to go out for dinner?"

Sydney was a bit taken back and wasn't expecting this question.

"I know a nice small Italian restaurant," said Jack. Sydney didn't make a response so Jack continued. "If you're busy I..."

"No," said Sydney. "I'd love to."

"Good, I'll come by your place at six thirty?"

Sydney smiled. "Sure."

Sydney stood looking in the mirror in her apartment with Rachel behind her.

"As much as I am happy to be having this baby," said Sydney, "I want my stomach back." Rachel smiled.

"When's he coming again?" asked Rachel.

"Six-thirty," answered Sydney.

"Is he normally on time?"

"If nothing comes up he normally is."

Sydney straighten out her dress more and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"I never really noticed this before but I have ugly ears."

"No you don't," reassured Rachel. She walked over to Sydney's bed and sat on it.

The doorbell rung. Sydney looked at her watch.

"6:30," she said. She grabbed her coat and purse. "I'll be home later on."

"Alright," said Rachel, as she followed her to the door.

Sydney opened the front door. Jack stood there and smiled when he saw Sydney.

"Hi Dad," said Sydney.

"Hello," he said. He looked over to Rachel. "Ms. Gibson."

Rachel smiled and said, "Hi."

"Well let's get going," Jack said.

"Alright," said Sydney. "See you later on tonight, Rachel."

"Alright," said Rachel.

Sydney walked out and shut the front door.

Rachel stood there for a moment. It felt weird being in somebody else's home, alone. But she knew she wouldn't be home alone for too long. She had invited Tom Grace over, of course asking Sydney first, to keep her company and protection. She was a rookie agent and Gordon Dean was still after her.

Rachel made sure the front door was locked as well as the windows. She then made her way to the living room and sat in a chair and decided to finish her book. It seemed that she had only read the book for five minutes when the doorbell rang.

She put her book down and got up from the couch. She walked over to the front door and looked through the small hole in the door. Grace was standing outside. She unlocked and opened the door.

"Hey," said Rachel.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Come in," she said. She stepped aside and let him walk into the house. After he passed the frame, she shut and locked the door. "So, um, are you feeling okay? I mean after the fight and everything."

"I've got a few bruises but nothing's broken," he answered. "He punched like a girl."

Rachel laughed. "Yeah but he almost kicked your ass."

"He wasn't even close."

She smiled at him and he returned the warm greeting.

"Would you like something to eat?" Rachel asked. "I'm a terrible cook but we could order something?"

"Pizza would be nice," said Grace. "I haven't had it in a while."

"Pizza it is," said Rachel. "You can go sit down on the couch if you want. Make yourself at home."

"Thanks," he said. He walked over to the couch and rested himself on it. Rachel walked over to the wireless phone which was hanging on the wall. Rachel picked it up and dialed the nearest pizza place.

Quickly, somebody picked up the receiver. Rachel gave the person her order, which was one large cheese pizza. He told her somebody would be over to deliver it in forty-five minutes. Rachel hung up the phone and joined Grace in the living room.

"It'll be here soon," she said.

Just as Grace was about to say something, the phone rang. Rachel got up and walked over to the phone. She looked on the caller ID. It said across the screen "Unknown Number".

"It doesn't say who it is," announced Rachel. "I'm just going to let the answering machine pick up. Rachel walked back over to the couch and sat down. The phone continued to ring but when the answering machine picked up, the person hung up.

"Probably a telemarketer," suggested Grace.

"Yeah," agreed Rachel. "Thanks for coming, by the way."

"It's no problem," said Grace.

The phone began ringing again. Rachel got up and walked over to the phone. Again the caller ID said: "Unknown Caller". Rachel rolled her eyes and walked back to the couch.

"Unknown caller again," she told Grace.

"They never quit, do they?" joked Grace.

"Apparently not," Rachel said. The phone continued to ring and hung up just when the answering machine picked up, once again. "Anyway," began Rachel, "I'm sorry if I'm boring you. I'm not really good at..."

The phone began ringing again.

"Alright, that's getting annoying," said Rachel. She got up and checked the caller ID. Once again, it said: "Unknown Caller". "Should I pick it up?"

"No," said Grace. "Maybe they'll stop after this one."

Rachel walked back to the couch and sat herself back down. Like the previous calls, the caller hung up just as the answering machine picked up. The two began to sit in silence. After a couple of seconds they both simultaneously turned to the phone and then back to each other.

"It's going to ring," said Rachel. "Any second now..."

The two paused again but not ringing came.

"Maybe you were right," said Rachel.

"I once had a telemarketer call my house seven times before giving up," shared Grace. "Normally they stop at three."

Fifty minutes later, the pizza came. Rachel answered the door, payed the pizza man, and then shut the door and locked it, after placing the pizza on the table in the kitchen. Grace came into the kitchen as Rachel opened up the pizza box.

"What would you like to drink?" asked Rachel, as she went to grab paper plates and cups.

"Anything would be fine," said Grace. Rachel handed the paper plates to Grace. She then grabbed two glasses and poured some wine into them. When she put the glass of wine in front of Grace he was already eating. Rachel grabbed a paper plate and a slice.

"Is it good?" she asked.

"Very," answered Grace before taking a sip of his beverage.

The two continued to talk and together they finished the whole pizza except for one slice which they decided to leave for Sydney. After they finished, the two took their wine and walked into the living and continued talking and laughing.

As the laughter died down a bit and they began taking sips of their drinks Rachel spoke up.

"So Mr. Grace," she said, "tell me one thing about you that nobody else knows."

Grace chuckled a bit. "Why?" he asked.

"I don't know," answered Rachel. "Just a random question."

"Hmm," he thought for a moment as he sipped his wine. "I don't know."

"Oh C'mon," said Rachel. "There has to be something."

"I can't really think of one."

"I think you can. I just think..."

The phone began ringing again. Rachel stopped mid-sentence and turned to the phone. Grace did the same. The two then looked back at each other. Both looked like they were about to laugh.

"It's probably not the same person," said Grace.

"I hope not," Rachel said, standing up and putting her glass down. She walked back over to the ringing phone. When she reached the caller ID it said, once again, "Unknown Caller." Rachel stood looking at it for a moment.

"It says it again," said Rachel.

"This guy just isn't giving up," said Grace.

Rachel now was becoming a bit scared. She walked back to sit down and the two listen to the phone ring. As the answering machine picked up, Rachel waited and expected the person on the other line to hang up. But this time, it didn't happen.

After Sydney's voice said the following: "Hi you have reached Sydney Bristow. I can't come to the phone right now but if you'd like to leave your name and number I'll try to get back to you. Have a good day." there was a beep, signaling for the person to begin their message. There was a slight pause and then a voice spoke.

The voice was unknown to Rachel as he began his first words.

"Sydney," the voice began. "Sydney please pick up. Please, I know you're there. Syd, it's Vaughn."

Rachel couldn't believe what she heard. Her eyes widen as the message continued.

"I know you're there, Sydney. Please pick up. I need to talk. I need help."

Then the message ended.

Rachel slowly turned to Grace who seemed to be dumbfounded.

"Was that him?" he asked. "Was that really...Vaughn?"

Rachel turned back to the phone.

"I don't know," she said. "I've never heard his voice."

An hour and a half later, Sydney walked back into her house. She was jovial and had a good dinner with her father. She shut the door and saw Rachel and Thomas Grace sitting in the living room.

"Hi Tom," she greeted.

"Hey," he greeted.

"How was it?" asked Rachel.

"Actually it turned out pretty good." Sydney put her purse down on the counter. "We managed to talk about anything but work."

"That's good," said Rachel. There was an awkward silence between the three that Sydney paid no attention to as she turned off her cell phone. "Um Sydney...?"

Sydney looked to Rachel. "Yeah?"

"There's something you...need to hear," said Rachel.

Rachel joined Sydney in the kitchen. Grace stood up and took a few steps closer to the kitchen but did not follow Rachel.

"There's a message for you," said Rachel. Rachel pushed the button on the answering machine and the message started.

Right as the message began, Sydney had already recognized the voice. She quickly look shocked and speechless and she covered her mouth as a tear rolled down her face.

The message ended and Rachel turned to a silently, crying Sydney.

"...Is it him?" Rachel asked.

Sydney looked at Rachel. She couldn't believe what she just heard. She felt herself shaking as chills ran up her spine.

"It...sounds like him...but it's impossible...I saw him die..."


	2. Chapter 2

1**Chapter II.**

**LOS ANGELES**

The phone traced had done nothing. The call was made from a phone booth in Phoenix, Arizona. The investigation of the mysterious call had stopped when a group of detectives hired by the CIA found that the phone booth was gone when they reached Phoenix. Sydney was now paranoid.

No other calls came that night. Sydney had called her father first after she heard the message. He rushed over and set up the phone trace through APO. Sydney didn't remember much. She was in a complete haze of confusion that whole night and she did not sleep.

She now was sitting at her desk at APO practically falling asleep. She at the moment was waiting for information on the search of Mr. Madeira's hotel floor. Mr. Madeira was still in the cell. APO had received no word about what to do with him. They'd probably move him to a different more secure cell and keep him just incase he might be needed later on.

Rachel walked up to Sydney. Sydney looked up as she approached.

"We received some information," said Rachel. "We're having a briefing in five minutes."

Five minutes later, Sydney, Jack, Rachel, Dixon, Grace, Sloane, and Marshall were all in the briefing room. All of them were sitting. Jack began.

"The hotel search has finished. We did not find the artifact in the hotel," announced Jack.

"Was anything found?" asked Sydney.

"Yes," answered Jack. "A location. In a safe found in a backroom there was a folder that had to do with Rambaldi. It unfortunately did not give us any new information but there was a piece of paper with an address on it. The address is of a house in the Azores."

"The Azores are a group of nine islands belonging to Portugal. Emanuel Madeira was born there," informed Sloane.

"Of the nine islands, the house is on the smallest one, called Corvo," said Jack. "We are sending a small team to infiltrate the building but we believe it is deserted. Agent Grace and Agent Dixon, you both will be going with the team. You will be leaving in an hour."

**PORTUGAL**

Grace and Dixon were the first ones out of the van. They were not heavily armed and neither was the other five men on the team. The group approached the single story house. It was a fairly wealthy house with a large fence surrounding it. The group approached the locked fence. The lock was broken by a tool carried by one of the men on the team.

Dixon entered the yard first followed by Grace. The group walked down the driveway up to the house.

"We are approaching the house," Dixon said into his mouth piece.

"Alright," said Jack who was back in Los Angeles with Sydney, Rachel, and Marshall listening to Dixon's voice. "Proceed."

The group removed their guns. Dixon approached the door. He kicked open the door and the group proceeded into the house. It was dark inside and all the blinds were shut. There was dust on everything yet there was plenty of furniture. The group spread amongst the house.

"Nobody's lived here for years," said Grace to Dixon.

"I hope so," said Dixon. He shut the door. Just as he did so, a fire of bullets were heard.

"What's going on?" asked Jack.

"I don't know," answered Dixon. Dixon and Grace rushed down a long hallway with four members of the team. There were many open doors and at the last door on the right was where the bullets were being fired. As the continued down the hall the bullets stopped and a woman rushed into the hallway. The team stopped and she spotted them. Right away she fired her gun.

The team dived in attempts to dodge the bullet. Dixon went into a room that came off of the hallway. Grace did so as well. He entered a room not far from the one Dixon was in.

"Who's there?" asked Jack.

"It's Kelly Peyton," answered Grace.

Sydney looked briefly at Rachel. Kelly Peyton was Rachel's former friend and co-worker.

"Is she alone?" asked Jack.

"I'm not sure," answered Grace.

One guard was still in the hallway and firing down it. Kelly had hid back into the room. He held his fire as silence filled the house. Then a shot was heard and Grace and Dixon saw him fall to the floor as blood seeped through his shirt.

"Man down," said Dixon.

Grace twisted his body slightly so he didn't expose his whole self into the hallway. He aimed his gun down the hallway and at his first sight of Peyton, he shot. She leaped into another room just dodging the bullet.

"She's carrying something. A large black bag," said Grace. "It might be the artifact."

"Get it from her," ordered Jack.

Another guard traveled down the hallway in attempt to reach the room Peyton had gone in. But she stepped slightly out into the hallway and shot the guard twice. Once in the shoulder, the other in the forehead. He fell to the floor.

"A second man is down," said Dixon.

Grace moved out of the room and into the hallway. Peyton was not seen. Dixon came out of the room as well and then was followed by the last remaining member of the team.

Grace checked the pulse of the first shot agent and Dixon checked the second. Both were dead. The group quietly proceeded down the hallway. There was a total of four rooms further down the hallway. Grace checked the first one on the left. He pushed opened the door and aimed into the room. It was empty except for a table and a few chairs. Dixon checked the first room on the right. He opened the door as widely as possible and aimed his gun. Peyton again was nowhere in sight. All that was there was a couch and two chairs along with a televison. The other agent went to go check the last room on the left as Grace approached the last room on the right. Grace first checked his room. He pointed his gun in. The only person that was in there was the dead body of the other agent. He had been shot a total of five times. Grace checked his pulse expecting not to find one. And he didn't.

Besides the body, the room was completely empty except for a single safe which had been opened.

Just then he heard a gun fire. He quickly went out into the hallway. The other agent had been shot and was lying on the floor but he wasn't dead. Grace saw Kelly Peyton firing down the hall. Grace aimed his gun at her but she caught his movements out of the corner of her eye and she leaped into a room and shut the door. The three bullets Grace shot hit the door. Dixon exited from a room on the right and quickly approached the agent on the floor. Grace went for the door.

"I have a man wounded," said Dixon. "Send for an medic."

"Right away," said Jack.

Grace kicked open the door and as he did so Peyton fired her gun. Grace managed to leap down the hall. Dixon put himself against a wall, out of Peyton's sight. Grace put his back up against the same wall. Both were on either side of the open door. They slowly, with their backs still against the wall, approached the door. A gun was fired a single time from the room. Dixon and Grace saw the bullet hit the last remaining agent. He was now dead. Grace and Dixon slowly approached the door. The two looked at each other. Dixon nodded and the two spun and aimed their guns in the room. But it was empty. Peyton had escaped through the window.

**LOS ANGELES**

"Christoph, I'm only going to ask you this one more time," said Sydney. "What was in the safe?"

"I'm only going to tell you if you tell me who took it," Christoph Madeira answered.

"We have not been given any permission to do that," said Jack. "We aren't obligated to tell you."

"Well then, I'm not obligated to tell you what was in the safe," said Christoph. He walked away from the glass and turned his back to Jack and Sydney.

"Mr. Madeira," began Jack. "May I inform you that Langley is deciding on what to do with you. Now, if you ask me, I think they'll just kill you if you fail to give them the information that they want. But I would also like to inform you that we have been given the pleasure of torturing you to get the information we need out of you. Now you have two options. You can either tell us the information or be tortured and killed. You decide."

"And what will I get out of it if I tell you?" asked Mr. Madeira.

"I'll make sure Langley will not execute youand in a matter of time I can convince them to let you go but you'll be watched under the eye of the CIA."

Mr. Madeira thought for a moment as he looked at Jack and Sydney.

"Alright," said Mr. Madeira. "I'll tell you what is in the safe."

"You've made the right choice," said Jack.

"My mother referred to it "The Antithesis". It's a Rambaldi artifact. I'm not sure how she got it but it is a chemical, a cure, for the infected Russians who were exposed to the water supply that my mother polluted. She told me to keep guard of it and to never tell anybody about it."

"Does anybody else know about it?" asked Sydney.

"I'm not sure who else my mother told but I never told anyone," answered Christoph.

"So you wouldn't have any idea on who could have taken it and why they would want it?" asked Jack.

"No."

"Our agents identified the one who took it," said Jack. "But we are unsure why this person or the people she works for would need it."

"Who took it?" asked Mr. Madeira.

"I'd like to know why you must know who took it," Jack said.

"Mr. Bristow, my mother guarded that Artifact like it was her life or even another child. After she died I promised myself then and there to guard that chemical. I want to know who took my artifact. I have the right to know."

Jack and Sydney turned to each other. Then the two looked back at Christoph.

"A woman by the name of Kelly Peyton took the artifact," said Jack.

"Kelly Peyton?" asked Mr. Madeira.

"She works for a man by the name of Gordon Dean," said Sydney.

"I have never heard those names before," said Mr. Madeira. "Are they a threat to the CIA?"

"At the moment, yes," answered Sydney. "So you've never heard of either of them?"

"Never."

"Why would they need the artifact?" asked Sydney. She now was back in the briefing room with her father, Rachel, Grace, Sloane, Dixon, and Marshall. "Rachel was this ever mentioned when you worked for Gordon Dean?"

"I never heard it," answered Rachel.

"Where do we go from here?" asked Grace.

"I'm not sure. We wait until we find information on Dean. Until then we'll have to wait. Dixon, Grace, I would like a report on my desk tomorrow."

The group got up and left but Sydney stayed with her father.

"You know you lied to him," said Sydney after everyone left.

"What?" asked Jack.

"Langley never gave us permission to torture Christoph."

"I know. But it did get the information out of him."

"Dad, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Why?"

"Think about it. This artifact is the cure. This could cure Nadia. Sloane will do anything to help Nadia."

"Do you think he's going to act on his own?"

"I'm not sure. Just, Dad, keep an eye on him."

"I will. Sydney I want you to meet up with Rene Rienne. See if she can somehow help tracking down Gordon Dean."

Although Rene was on the CIA's most wanted list, she was proving to be quite helpful. The APO team made contact with her secretly, not telling Director Chase or the rest of the CIA.

"When?"

"Try to set up a meeting as soon as possible. I'd prefer tomorrow if that's alright with her. I'll provide any necessary transportation."

**VENICE**

Sydney sat in a coffee shop on a bright sunny morning. The coffee shop was quite small and only a few people were in there. It smelt wonderful to Sydney. All the pastries and drinks mixed well together in scent. The coffee was not bad either.

Sydney sat further to the back of the restaurant at a two person table. She watched the door the whole time as she drank her coffee. Venice was a beautiful city and she was happy to find out that Rene was here. There message had been very brief and Sydney did not tell Rene why she needed to meet with her, nor did she ask.

Sydney checked her watch. The time was 12:40. Rene told Sydney to meet her at 12:30. Sydney hoped nothing went wrong. About five minutes after Sydney checked her watch Rene Rienne walked in. She removed her sunglasses and quickly spotted Sydney. She moved to the back of the restaurant where Sydney was sitting.

"Good afternoon," greeted Rene as she sat down at the table.

"How are you?" asked Sydney.

"I'm hanging in there," said Rene. "And you? How's the baby?"

"It's growing," answered Sydney.

"Do you want it to be a boy or a girl?" asked Rene.

"It doesn't matter to me."

"What about Vaughn, did he tell you?"

"Not really. But if it turned out to be a girl, he wanted it to be named Isabelle."

"Isabelle Vaughn. Very pretty."

"It is." Sydney paused and smiled warmly then continued her conversation. "Listen Rene, I need to ask a favor of you."

"Alright, what is it?" asked Rene.

Sydney told Rene about Christoph Madeira, "The Antithesis", Kelly Peyton and how APO believes Gordon Dean has the artifact.

"We need to find the location of Gordon Dean and that's where I was hoping you could help," said Sydney. "If there's anything you could do I would appreciate it."

"I'll see what I can do," said Rene.

"Thank you," said Sydney.

"Is there anything else?"

"No, just that."

"Alright," Rene stood up.

"Wait," said Sydney. "There's one other thing..."

"What is it?" asked Renee.

Sydney told Renee about the message she got from what sounded like Vaughn.

"Do you think he's alive?" asked Sydney. "Has he contacted you?"

"No, " answered Renee. "He hasn't..." She seemed to be in disbelief. "Have there been anymore calls?"

"No," answered Sydney.

"I'm not sure what to say," Renee eventually said after a long pause.

"You don't have to say anything," said Sydney. "I just thought I'd tell you."

"I better get going. I'll see you around." Rene smiled.

"Be safe."

"I always do." Rene walked out of the coffee shop. Sydney finished up her coffee and took a stroll before heading back home.

**LOS ANGELES**

Arvin Sloane stood in a dark alleyway. It was exactly nine o'clock. He constantly checked both ways down the long alleyway and tried to cover his fear. A message on his cell phone told him to come here. The voice was unrecognizable but it was convincing. In his coat pocket he had a gun for safety.

His cell phone rang making him jump. He quickly talked into the reciever.

"Hello?" he said into it.

"Arvin," said a familiar voice. "How are you?"

"Gordon Dean," said Sloane.

"Yes it is I," said Gordon Dean. "I hear you've been looking for me."

"You're correct. I have been looking for you," said Sloane.

"Well you can stop, because you probably will never find me."

"Oh I have my ways."

"And I have mine. Now Sloane what is it that you want from me?"

"Why do you have the Rambaldi Artifact?"

"What artifact?"

"The Antithesis. Why do you have it?"

"Oh that Rambaldi Artifact. Well let's just say I have a friend who needs it. Why do you care? Oh yes, your daughter is infected. Let me remind you that you did that to her."

Sloane, attempting to keep in his anger, continued with the conversation. "I want the Artifact."

"Oh, do you? Well why don't you write it on your Christmas list because you aren't getting it that easy, Mr. Sloane."

"Name your price."

"Price? I'm not sure if I have a price."

"Stop playing games, Dean. You're wasting our time. I'll give you anything for that Artifact."

"Well, here's the deal, you tell no one about this conversation and in two days I'll have a price and I'll contact you. Do we have an agreement?"

Sloane paused briefly and then answered. "Yes."

"Good. Have a nice night, Arvin."

And then, Gordon Dean hung up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III.**

Another day went by and APO still did not find any lead on Gordon Dean. Nobody seemed to know where he was. It was stressful for all the agents. Sydney sat at her desk still thinking about the message. No other messages came last night, yet Sydney was still paranoid. She was still unsure if she believed that it was Vaughn on the message. It sounded exactly like him but he was dead.

Rachel sat at her desk trying, from her computer, to recover information about Gordon Dean but he seemed to have destroyed many of his files from there previous organization. Grace had made several phone calls to different agencies but nobody had any idea where he was.

Jack was in his office. He was expecting Director Chase to come by. They had to discuss what they were going to do with Christoph Madeira. It wasn't long until she walked into the room.

"Where's Sydney?" she asked first.

"Excuse me?" asked Jack.

"Well Christoph Madeira is indeed her cousin. She should have a say in this," explained Director Chase.

"Very well," said Jack. "If you'll excuse me."

Jack left the room and got Sydney. The two returned to Jack's office where Director Chase was still waiting. Jack shut the door.

"I want both of your opinions on what you think we should do with Mr. Madeira," explained Chase.

Sydney spoke first. "I believe that he might prove to be helpful later on so I think we should keep him in custody here at APO."

"Why here?" asked Chase. "Ms. Bristow I don't believe that keeping him here at APO would be a good idea. There are more secure cells."

"Yes but whoever is behind this, if it is indeed Gordon Dean, I'm sure they know about Christoph Madeira and his knowledge about Rambaldi. If they happen to find out we're transporting him from here, they'll do whatever they can to get him. It's happened before with other criminals."

"Jack what do you think?" asked Chase.

"I agree with Sydney," announced Jack. "I think we should keep Mr. Madeira here. He knows a lot more than we think and like Sydney said, he probably will be useful in the near future."

"Alright," said Chase. "I'll take your opinions over to Langley. I can't promise you anything."

"Thank you," said Sydney.

"Have a good day." She walked towards the office door when Dixon barged in.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt," he said, "But we have Eric Weiss here. He thinks he can help us track down Gordon Dean."

Jack, Sydney, and Director Chase followed Dixon. Dixon lead them to Weiss who was standing near Marshall's desk with Rachel and Grace. The two seemed to have been introduced already. Sloane approached the group as well.

"Weiss," said Sydney as she approached her old friend.

"How are you?" he asked with a friendly smile.

"I'm fine," answered Sydney.

"You have information on Gordon Dean?" asked Director Chase.

"Brief information," he corrected her. "This was discovered in the Pentagon. A brief phone call was made. I uploaded it here."

Marshall pressed a button on his computer. The phone call began.

"Did you get the artifact?" The voice was recognizable. It was Gordon Dean.

A second voice chimed in. "Yes but it wasn't as easy as I expected."

"Kelly Peyton," said Rachel, identifying the second voice.

"Why?" asked Gordon Dean.

"The CIA was there. Thankfully they weren't armed with much."

"How many?"

"Seven. I killed five of them."

"What about the other two?"

"I had to flee."

"So they saw your face?"

"Yes."

"Well now they know I have the artifact."

"Yes but they don't know where you are. That's what's important."

"Where are you and the artifact?"

"Is this line secure?"

"Of course it is. It's impossible for it to be picked up."

"Yeah," said Weiss, "That's where he went wrong."

"I'm in Paris, at our safe house."

"And the artifact is with you?"

"Yes."

"I will be there as soon as I can."

Then the message ended.

"When did you receive this?" asked Director Chase.

"About a hour ago," answered Weiss.

"That means Peyton's still there," said Sydney.

"Most likely," said Weiss.

"Do we know where their hideout is?" asked Chase.

"We tracked the signal down to a small warehouse," said Weiss. He wrote down the address and handed to Chase.

"Can we act on this?" asked Grace.

"I think we can," answered Director Chase. She handed the address to Jack. "I can't stay to brief the mission. Jack I trust you will handle this well. Send in a team. I want that artifact and whoever else you find brought back."

"We will have a short briefing in five minutes," said Jack. Everybody walked off except Sydney and Weiss.

"Sorry I don't have time to talk," Sydney apologized to Weiss.

"It's alright, I don't have much time either," said Weiss.

"This information will help us a lot. And Nadia," said Sydney.

"I hope so," said Weiss.

"Have you seen her recently?" asked Sydney.

"Yeah, I go there almost every day."

Sydney hugged him. "I know she misses you," said Sydney.

"I know. And I know Michael misses you too," said Weiss. The two released the hug.

"I have to tell you something," said Sydney. "It's about Vaughn..."

"Mr. Weiss," said a voice. The two turned. Sloane was approaching them. "I would like to personally thank you. You are doing a lot for Nadia."

"It's no problem Mr. Sloane. If there's anything else I can do to help..."

"Actually there is," said Sloane. "I've already talked to Jack about this and he has agreed. I'd like you to join the team to infiltrate the building. You have great field skills and I know you care about getting this artifact just as much as I do."

"Well, uh, I'll have to check with my boss," said Weiss not really completely sure if this was the best idea.

"Of course," said Sloane. "But I'm sure it'll be alright.

"I'm sending you all to infiltrate the building. You are all required to bring back the Artifact. If Gordon Dean or Kelly Peyton is there, keep them alive and bring them to me," ordered Jack. He was now talking to a group of twenty agents. Of the twenty, Dixon, Grace, and Weiss (who received clearance to join the team) were going in. Sydney, Rachel, Marshall, Sloane, and Jack would watch the operation from satellite with a thermal vision. "Proceed with caution. We have already looked over the building and have not found any threatening security system. There are a total of seven guards in the warehouse. Take them out. We don't want the Artifact to be taken away so I want two agents at the three exits. We have an opportunity here, so take it and come back home."

**PARIS**

Dixon, Weiss, Grace, and the rest of the team approached the building in the dark. Half the team was on one side while the other half was directly across from it. Four agents went off to the exits of the building to guard.

"We're in place," said Dixon into his mouth piece.

"Copy that," said Jack who was back in Los Angeles with Sydney, Rachel, Marshall, and Sloane, watching the mission from above. "Proceed."

The lock on the door was picked open by Grace. He opened the door and the team proceeded. It was dark inside. Thankfully the team had flashlights on there weapons. The team split up and covered the hallways they were assigned.

"There is a guard in the E wing," said Jack. Soon after the guard was taken out by the team. One by one they were each taken out quietly and then hidden.

"There's one person left," said Sydney looking at the thermal vision.

"Kelly," said Rachel.

"The last person is in the backroom," said Jack.

"Already there," said Dixon. He was also with Weiss and Grace.

Jack was about to tell them to proceed when he saw a group of figures approaching the building. "I see seven, no eight men approaching the building, there not our agents. Men outside do you see them?"

Just then a firing of bullets were heard.

"There's an ambush outside," warned Jack. "It's a set-up, get out."

But before Dixon heard his message he kicked open the door to the backroom.

Kelly Peyton was standing there with her gun already aimed. She fired a bullet and hit Dixon. She then aimed her gun and fired at Grace who managed to leap to the side. Weiss pulled out his weapon and fired. She dived behind a table.

"Leave the building, I repeat leave the building," commanded Jack.

The other men were now entering the building. They began shooting the APO agents one by one.

"Ten enemies have entered the building, get out of there," ordered Jack.

"But the Artifact," said Sloane.

"It's trap Arvin. There is no artifact!" said Jack.

Weiss continued to fire at Peyton who occasionally came up and attempted to shot at Weiss who was hiding behind the side of the wall outside the room. Grace crawled over to Dixon.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," answered Dixon. "Just got the wind knocked out of me." He sat up. The bullet had hit his bulletproof vest, not his body. The two stood up and Dixon heard Jack over the firing of bullets.

"Get out of there!"

"Weiss, we have to go!" yelled Dixon.

The group rushed down the hall to the nearest exit but were stopped by three men in masks. They weren't apart of their team.

Right away Grace shot, hitting one of them. The shot man fell to the floor and the other two began shooting. The three ran down a different hallway. Grace constantly turned back and fired at the two men following them. He managed to hit the other one.

Then another group of men came into the hall a couple of yards down from them. Dixon and Weiss fired at them, killing three of the five. Dixon and Weiss fired a couple more times then fled down a hallway. Grace followed only after killing the last pursuer and taking a shot at the two others.

Grace ran down the hall following Dixon and Weiss. He was right on their heels when somebody jumped out and tackled him to the floor. Dixon and Weiss turned around and saw Grace on the floor being punched at by a masked man. They ran towards him but were stopped by the shooting of the two other masked men, from down the hall.

Grace managed to smash his gun against the masked man who was on top of him. The man was knocked out and fell to the ground. One of the two men down the hall aimed there gun at Grace but Weiss fired and shot him. Quickly Grace grabbed his gun and fired at the other man, killing him.

Grace got up and followed Weiss and Dixon down the hall. The were heading for the nearest exit when another group of guards came around the corner. In the middle of the guards was Kelly Peyton. The red lights coming from each of their guns were aimed at their hearts. The three stood frozen.

"Don't move," warned Peyton. "I'll have no sympathy when I shoot and kill you."

"Outrigger?" called Jack.

"Drop your weapons," ordered Peyton. They did as she ordered.

"Do you copy?" called Jack. "Sidewinder? Anyone?"

"We've been caught..." Grace managed to whisper. "Peyt..."

"Remove your earpieces," Peyton commanded. They followed her order.

"Kelly got to them," said Rachel.

Sydney sat in the briefing room which felt quite empty. With her was Rachel. Her father was outside. Director Chase recently came rushing into the office.

"Jack, I've got the President and the whole White House up my ass with complaints because there own man is missing. What were you thinking letting Eric Weiss come with the team?" She was furious.

"Director Chase, I..."

"I'm being questioned right now by Langley because of you, Jack."

Sydney and Rachel could hear the whole conversation.

"Now we have two of our agents missing and the rest dead. I thought you were going to be able to handle this."

"Director Chase, you gave me specific orders that I followed. You told us to act on this information. You gave me permission and handed me this task. I did what you asked. It is not my fault that it was an ambush and that _you _alone acted off the Intel we received. You made the decision to infiltrate that warehouse, not me. So if you are going to blame anyone, make it yourself."

"Jack, I realize my mistake. But it is not my fault that Eric Weiss is now missing. You allowed him on this operation. What were you thinking?"

"Actually it was my idea," said a voice. Sloane was overhearing the conversation.

"Your idea, Mr. Sloane?" asked Director Chase.

"Yes," answered Sloane.

"And where in hell did you come up with this idea?" asked Director Chase.

"Eric Weiss is one of the few people who love Nadia almost as much as I do," explained Sloane. "Now I knew I wasn't going to be able to assist in this mission and I knew Sydney was not going to be able to either so I asked Eric Weiss to join the team because I believed he would do anything to retrieve that artifact."

"Well Mr. Sloane, your belief may be true, but you made a terrible decision," said Director Chase. "And you better hope that Marcus Dixon, Thomas Grace, and Eric Weiss all return safely because if they don't, it's your head I'll be after." With that she left APO.

Dixon woke up. All he remembered last was being knocked out by a guard after seeing them knock out Grace and Weiss. His head hurt incredibly with immense pain. When he opened his eyes he found himself in a room being lit only by a small light hanging from the ceiling. It was terribly cold in the room as well as wet. He looked around the small room and saw Weiss and Grace lying on the floor. He quickly rushed over to them to make sure they were okay. All three of them had been striped down to their pants and t-shirt.

Dixon first went over to Grace who was closer. He shook him.

"Tom," he said. "Tom wake up."

Grace eventually opened his eyes and sat up holding the back of his head.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," answered Dixon. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah fine," Grace said still rubbing his head. "That blow to my head just hurts."

"Yeah me too."

Dixon went over to Weiss and woke him up. Weiss sat up.

"We haven't been saved?" he asked.

"Not yet," said Dixon.

"Well they sure gave us a nice cell," said Weiss as he looked around the room.

"Why do you think they're keeping us here?" asked Grace.

"I don't know," answered Dixon.

"Were we the only ones left of the whole team?" asked Grace.

"I'm not sure."

Sydney sat at her desk with her head in her hands. APO was a mess. Multiple phones were ringing, people were running all over the place. It was pandemonium and havoc. It was too much for Sydney to handle and there was just way too much stress for her. Three of her friends had been taken captive. For all she knew they could be dead and their bodies could be anywhere in the world. It all seemed like APO was heading for a downfall.

Sydney's phone began ringing. She didn't want to answer it but she did anyway.

"Hello?" she said.

"Is this a secure line?" asked a familiar voice.

"Renee?" she asked. "Yes, yes, it is."

"Sydney I've received information on where they are keeping the artifact," said Renee. "But the problem is, they're loading the artifact and bringing to Gordon Dean tonight. They're heading to Athens."

"How did you figure this out?" asked Sydney.

"Trust me, it's too long to tell," said Renee.

"Listen Renee, I appreciate the information you received and I trust you one-hundred percent but just recently we received Intel about the location of the Artifact and it turned out to be an ambush."

"What happened?"

"We think about seventeen of our men were killed. We hope that three are still alive and being held captive. And it's just, I believe that you discovered this information and it is probably true, but because there is so much lack of proof, APO won't act on it. We did that with the recent Intel and as you've heard, it proved fatal."

"I understand but Sydney, I can still help you."

"What? How?"

"I'll go in."

"By yourself, Renee, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Sydney, I'll be fine. I'll follow the cargo to Athens. I'll retrieve your men and I'll attempt to get the Rambaldi Artifact."

"You can't do that on your own."

"Trust me I can."

"Well what can I do for you?"

"I'm in need of new weapons."

"Where can I meet you?"

"Venice, again, at a warehouse behind that coffee shop."

"I'll leave in an hour. See you soon, Renee."

**ATHENS**

Renee hid in the back of the truck behind a few wooden crates. She had checked the whole truck but the crates did not contain anything but normal weapons. Nothing out of the ordinary which was what she was looking for. It was hard for Renee to find something when she didn't know what it looked like. She hoped that it was in one of the other two trucks that were heading to Athens. Renee also saw the captives. There were three of them who were thrown in the back of one of the trucks that Renee didn't manage to get to. The three trucks was still on the move over a bumpy and rough road.

She had promised Sydney that she'd get her friends back and she was determined to. Vaughn was the father of Sydney's baby. She had to help her. She knew how much Vaughn cared for her.

Renee could hear the rain continue to poor outside as the truck continued down the rough abrasive road. Renee had been in the truck for hours. She saw the faces of the truck drives and there passengers. One of which being Kelly Peyton who was probably in the truck with the Artifact. Renee should have guessed that and punished herself for not reaching the other truck.

Sydney had given Renee enough weapons for three missions. At the moment, she had two silent shooters, a couple of grandes, steel wire, and knives. She also had a repel to climb up and down walls. There was more back at Renee's hiding place which she didn't take because she wanted to travel more lightly. She was wearing all black and Sydney had given her a bulletproof vest which Renee took off. She never liked the feel of them.

After about a hour and a half, the truck slowly came to a stop. They had arrived.

**LOS ANGELES**

Arvin stood over his daughter, Nadia as she lay in the bed with her eyes closed. She looked so helpless. It hurt Arvin to see her like this and recently he had been contemplating on pulling the plug. But now, the CIA was on the move for the artifact and if that failed, he always had his deal with Gordon Dean.

Just then, Arvin's cellular phone began ringing. He looked at the clock on the wall. It was midnight. Who would be calling at this time of the night? And then he realized, Gordon Dean had said he'd make contact with Arvin in two days. Those two days had passed. It had to be Gordon Dean.

Sloane pressed a button on his phone and then put it up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Is line secure?" asked Gordon Dean's familiar voice.

"Yes," answered Sloane.

"How are you Arvin?" asked Dean.

"Do you have a price?" asked Arvin.

"How's your daughter. She looks awfully comfortable sleeping on that bed doesn't she?"

Sloane looked around the room and out the window.

"It's alright Arvin, I'm not in Los Angeles," added Dean.

"Do you have your price yet?" asked Sloane.

"Price? Oh, the price, yes I indeed do but Arvin I don't have the time at the moment to negotiate with you. You see I'm retrieving The Antithesis quite soon. My retriever has just arrived."

"What are you going to do with the captives?"

"Oh, I'm not sure yet," answered Dean. "There's plenty we could do. Why do you care Arvin? You don't care about anyone but yourself."

Arvin ignored his comment. "When will you have a price?"

"Well, once I contact my superiors, I'll discuss the offer. It should be later on today. Well Arvin, I must go. Get some rest, you look exhausted." And then Gordon Dean hung up.

**ATHENS**

Renee had everything planned already and the plan set in motion once the car stopped. Renee, during the ride, had put a small hole in one of the crates for her to see through. She wasn't going to try and sneak in by herself. She was going to have Dean's men bring her in. She got into the crate and closed the lid on top of it. It was incredibly dark and she could not see a thing. She heard two men come into the back of the truck and they began picking up crates to carry in.

Kelly Peyton had stepped out of the trunk and onto the dirt as the rain continued to pour. She had ridden in the back of the truck with The Antithesis and she sat right next to it with a gun. As she stepped out of the truck she saw the prisoners being taken.

"Put them in the cells!" called Peyton. "The ones in the basement, that's where Dean wants them!"

Peyton then turned to one Dean's men who was next to her.

"Take the artifact to Dean. He's in his office. You know what the box is marked with."

The man nodded and got into the truck.

Renee had heard where the captives were being taken but she couldn't hear what Renee said to the man standing next to her. She was too far. The man got into the back of the truck and then came out shortly after. He was carrying a crate that looked like all the rest except for the giant red Rambaldi symbol, painted on it.

Grace was pushed forward by a guard who holding a large assault rifle. There were two guards in front of him, pushing Dixon and Weiss along. All their hands had been tied and during the trip they were chained to the walls of the truck. They weren't able to attempt to escape because a guard was in the back of the truck with them, watching their every move.

They were now walking down a long gray hall. Grace had lost a lot of hope. He thought APO would have been here by now. What if they didn't know they were still alive? What if they had given up hope on them? Grace didn't want to think about it. He just continued down the large hall.

About fifteen minutes of waiting, Renee made sure nobody was coming back into the room which all the crates had been placed. After those long minutes, no more crates had come. Renee got out of her crate and looked around the room for the Rambaldi one. It was no where to be seen.

The room she was in was almost like a large storage closet. It was dark and only a single light lit the room. There must have been at least fifty crates. Some were piled on top of one another, creating large obstacles Renee had to climb over.

As she climbed, making her way to the door, she began thinking about what to go after first, the Artifact or the captives. At the moment, she knew the captives were being held in the cells somewhere in the basement of the building and Renee knew the guard which carried the crate she was in didn't go up any flights of stairs which probably meant she was on the first floor. She had no idea where the Artifact was. If she got to the captives and freed them, they could help her get to the Artifact. But if they were hurt then they wouldn't be able to help her. If she went for the Artifact first, it could possibly take her hours to find it and by then they might have killed Sydney's friends and left with the Artifact.

Renee then decided to go get Sydney's friends first. Even though the artifact was so very valuable, she knew Sydney would rather have her friends back. So Renee decided to attempt to find the cells, somewhere underneath her.

Before leaving the room, she put her ear up to the door to check for any guards. She heard no voices nor footsteps. Cautiously, she opened the door, which sung into the room rather than out. The hallway was some what dark. There were a few small light bulbs which hung from a metal pole attached to the ceiling. The pole ran the distance of the hall.

Renee decided to take a right. She ran made her way down the hall as quietly as possible. When reaching a corner she pressed herself against a wall and peered around. There was nobody in sight. The next hall was as dark as hall she just came from, if not darker. There were several doors, two on the left side and three on the right. When she was about halfway down the hall, a door farther down opened. She stopped in shock. She didn't have enough time to run back. There was nothing she could hide behind and the door closest to her was about ten feet away and who knows who else could be in the other room. She was trapped already.

Quentin Angle, a Greek, trained agent who worked for Gordon Dean, stepped out into the hallway. He had just come from upstairs after handing the Rambaldi Artifact to Gordon Dean who happened to be on the eighth floor of the building. Quentin was tired from the long trip to Athens and was hoping to head back to his apartment tonight, which was in the city.

The hallway seemed exceptionally darker. Some of the light bulbs had gone out, as he observed looking at the metal pole that provided power to the bulbs. He watched one blink repeatedly and then subsequently, it went out. Quentin pushed up his gun, which hung from a strap which was around his body. He wondered if he should wait for Kelly to come down from Dean's office so the two could have their alone time which he had been waiting for all night.

There was nothing else he could do really. Except patrol this corridor which somebody else should have been doing.

_Lazy bastards_, he thought to himself.

He decided to guard the hall. He turned to his left and began walking down the hallway at a slow pace. After about ten steps he heard a noise. It sounded like a small creak. He quickly turned around but saw nothing down the hall. Probably just a rat, the building was full of them.

Quentin continued down the hall. He wondered about the Rambaldi artifact. What bothered him was that, he was third in command, right under Kelly Peyton yet he knew nothing about the artifact. Every time he asked Kelly about it, she discarded it and told him it wasn't important. Clearly, it was. He believed he had the right to know but just as Dean was about to say something about the Artifact, he showed Angle the door.

Angle was approaching the corner of the hall just as he heard another noise but this time he didn't have the time to turn around. He felt a thin wire wrap around his neck and it began cutting off his air supply.

"Don't scream or I'll snap your neck," said a voice. It was a woman.

Renee stood behind the broad, tall guard. She just managed to reach and wrap the wire around his large neck. He was a hulking man and intimidating. Renee was actually a bit worried at the idea of attacking him.

Just when the door opened, Renee had remembered the metal pole that ran on the ceiling of the hallway. She leaped up and managed to grab hold of the pole. She swung legs up and hung from the pole like a monkey. She watched the guard travel down the hall and once he looked up at the ceiling and she thought he had spotted her. But it was too dark.

"Who are you," the man managed to spit out.

"That's none of your business," Renee answered. "Where are you keeping the CIA captives?"

"I don't know," said Angle. Renee pulled the wire tighter around his neck.

"Alright, alright," he pleaded. "Down in the basement."

"I know that you piece of shit," said Renee. "Which way is the basement?"

"You continue down this hall and take a right. Continue down that hall until you reach a door that has a key code on the wall next to it."

"What's the code?"

"4733"

"And how do I know you're not lying?" asked Renee.

"I'm not, I swear to you."

Renee reached for the man's back pocket. From the pocket she pulled out a wallet and opened it with one of her hands. "Mr. Angle. Where are you from?"

"Athens," he answered.

"Ah yes, it says that in your wallet. It also says your home address, so Mr. Angle. If the directions you give me are false, I will personally come to your house and kill you and trust me, I won't kill you before I torture you, is that clear?"

"Crystal."

"Don't play smart. Where do you go from there?"

"After, the button on the key code should turn green, when it does the door will be unlocked. Open it and go down the stairs."

"How many guards will be down there?"

"I don't know."

"Give en estimate."

"Three."

"Well, thank you Mr. Quentin Angle for your time. And thank you for the Euros as well. I hope we don't have to cross paths again."

Renee pulled as tight as possible on the wire as Mr. Angle slowly lost more oxygen. Then he fainted. Renee carried his body to the room with the crates and hid him behind a stack of them. She put his wallet in her pocket and headed down the hall.

The stairs to the basement were dark. She traveled down them as quietly as possible and when she reached the bottom she peaked out into the bright lit basement.

There were only two guards who were both sitting on chairs in the long white hall. On either side of the hall were heavy doors, clearly the cells of the basement. Both of the guards had not noticed her and were too busy playing a card game on a near by table.

Renee thought of a plan of action. The two guards didn't seem to pose a threat to her. Mr. Angle seemed like a threat but she easily took him out. Dean clearly doesn't care that much about the safety of his facilities.

Then Renee found a plan of action.

She flicked the lights off.

"Hey what happened?" said one of the guards?

"I don't know? I'll get the lights," said the other.

The second guard traveled down the hall and when he flicked on the lights he found his partner lying on the floor, unconscious.

"Oh my god," he muttered as he ran over to his partner. He checked for a pulse and found one and tried to awaken his friend and that was the last thing he saw before Renee knocked him out by slamming a gun into his skull.

She took the keys to a cell and locked both of them in one. She locked the door and then began looking in the other cells.

Eventually she found three men.

"Are one of your names Marcus Dixon?" she asked.

The three looked up at her.

"Why?" asked the African-American man.

"Sydney Bristow sent me," said Renee.

After explaining who she was and introducing one another, Renee, Grace, Weiss, and Dixon all began traveling up the stairs to the first floor.

"So you have been working with Sydney and Jack Bristow?" asked Grace.

"Occasionally," answered Renee. "I'm sure she'll inform you all later. We have to retrieve the Rambaldi artifact, it's upstairs somewhere with Dean. You'll need weapons, there are some in crates back in another room."

The group of four entered a room full of crates. Mr. Angle was still lying on the floor.

"Who's that?" asked Weiss.

"Nobody important," said Renee as she snapped open the top of a crate. She opened up two more as Grace, Dixon and Weiss all grabbed weapons.

"How are we going to find Dean?" asked Weiss.

"We going to ask him," answered Renee nodding to the guard lying on the floor.

Quentin Angle felt someone slapping his face as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and saw a woman crouching in front of him. He realized she was holding his wallet. He went to go leap at her but then noticed he was being held back and he heard the lock of two guns when he attempted to get at her.

Quentin twisted his head and saw the face of a man holding him back. He also saw another man holding a pointed gun at him as well as another man on the other side who was also holding a gun.

Grace was the one holding his arms back. Dixon was at Angle's right, holding a gun wile Weiss was on the left also holding a gun.

"Sorry to wake you," said Renee, "But we need some help. Where is Gordon Dean's office?"

"On the eighth floor," answered Angle.

"We figured that out," said Renee. "How do you get to it?"

"The door that you watched me come out of, in there are stairs. Just follow the flight of stairs up to the eighth floor. You'll come to a door that leads to a hallway that looks almost like a hotel. You'll walk down this hallway and take your first left but down this hallway is where Dean has two men guarding a door. Inside this door is a conference room, this is where I lost saw Dean with Kelly Peyton and the crate with the Rambaldi artifact. If he is not in this room then he'll be in the following room, which is his actual office."

"Did you leave anything out?" asked Renee.

"No," answered Angle.

"Good." Renee nodded to Grace who then smashed Angle's skull with his elbow and Angle fell to the floor.

Renee, Grace, Dixon, and Weiss could hear the conversation of the two men who were standing in front of the door which led to Gordon Dean. Renee had two silent pistols she could shoot but she preferred to refrain from that.

The guards were talking in Greek about prostitutes they had met on a trip. They were joking and making remarks about Dean being jealous.

Renee looked to the other three and whispered as the men laughed. "Any other ideas?"

They shook their heads.

"Use the pistols," whispered Grace.

Renee nodded and waited a few seconds, then spun around the corner and shot both guards before they even had time to take out their guns. The group approached the once guarded door and listened in. They couldn't hear anything.

Grace then flung open the door and the four ran in with their guns aimed.

But there was nothing to aim at. Nobody was in the empty conference room.

There was a large oval table that sat many chairs which were seated in front of computers. There was also a large screen on the wall which at the moment had a Rambaldi symbol spinning with a black background. There were four windows on the right wall looking out onto the city of Athens.

"Should we try the next door?" asked Weiss.

The group looked to the door across from the door they came in. It was shut and to the right off the large screen. This door supposedly lead to Gordon Dean's office.

"We might as well," said Renee. The group approached the door and listened in. Again, no voices. Grace tried the knob but it was locked so he rammed his elbow against the door. After a third try, the door flung open. As it opened, the group caught sight of Kelly Peyton and Gordon Dean fleeing the room out a secret door which looked to be apart of the wall. Grace shot but missed the two. Renee ran first, followed by Dixon, Weiss, and then Grace.

The secret door lead to another stairway. As the group began running down the stairs they saw that Gordon Dean has a black bag which probably had the Rambaldi Artifact.

Renee fired down the staircase but Gordon Dean and Kelly Peyton just managed to dodge the shot by turning a corner and heading down another flight. Renee leaped over a railing and landed in front of Gordon Dean with Kelly Peyton behind him. Gordon Dean stooped short but managed to swing a punch at Renee who bent back, dodging his fist. But he then kicked her, causing her to fall down the steps.

But Dean and Peyton didn't get much farther. Dixon came up behind Peyton and grabbed her from behind. She struggled uncontrollably and then stomped on Dixon's foot. She then managed to hit his thigh with her fist.

As this was going on, Dean fled down the steps but when reaching Renee, she tripped him and he fell on the same platform as Renee. Peyton's arms had now been freed from Dixon's grasp. She punched him in the face and then flipped him over her back. Dixon fell down the stairs and landed on the platform where Renee was now standing kicking a kneeled Dean.

Just as Kelly Peyton turned around Weiss took a punch at her, she stumbled down a few steps. Weiss went after her but she managed to elbow him the stomach as he descended down the steps. Grace came coming down to help Weiss, as he was thrown against a wall.

In attempted to reach for Dean's bag, Renee had been tossed by the arm down a few steps of the next set of stairs. Dixon quickly came up behind Dean and grabbed him from the shoulder. Dean spun around and elbowed him in the face. Blood came of Dixon's nose. Dean then kneed the hunched Dixon in the stomach.

Grace had his hand around Peyton's throat. She threw a punch at his face but Grace grabbed her arm with his free hand. She then started hitting Grace's choking arm with her free one. Her attacks failed to work but Grace had eventually let go because a force behind him had lifted him off the stairs.

Quentin Angle had awoken and had rushed to Dean's office, finding the secret compartment open. He rushed down the stairs and saw Kelly being choked by the man who elbowed him in the face. He came began Grace and pulled and lifted him from Kelly.

With his colossal strength, he tossed Grace, up the stairs. Then the massive man noticed Weiss, getting up and approaching from a lower stair. Weiss swung a fist at Angle, which only was able to reach his stomach. Angle grabbed the fist and twisted it. Weiss yelled in pain.

Renee pulled out her gun but lost grip of it as Dean kicked it from her hands, as he stood on a higher step. He then kicked her in the face and she stumbled. But Dixon came behind Dean and tossed him down onto the stairs. He reached for Dean, who threw a swing at Dixon's face, hitting him. Then Dean grabbed Dixon's throat but Dixon head butted Dean, causing him to fall and lose his grasp.

Quentin Angle was now punching Weiss in the face continuously as blood poured from Weiss's nose and mouth. Just as Angle pulled back for an eleventh punch, Grace had leaped onto his back. His arms hooked around his neck. Angle moved around in attempt to get Grace off of him.

Renee had grabbed the strap to the black pack. It was heavy and became clear to Renee that the Artifact was safely in a sealed container. Dean managed to kick her in the stomach. Dixon had fallen down another flight of stairs and was not getting up. Dean had threw him down there.

Dean kicked Renee a second time and she lost hold of the strap. She began falling but she grabbed hold of the railing. She then kicked Dean, using the railing as balance.

Grace still held on Angle's back as he rampaged like a bull. Grace hit him multiple times in the head. But then Angle grabbed hold of Grace's head and threw him over his back. Grace flew over the railing and then started heading down with nothing breaking his fall except the first floor.

Weiss had saw Grace being tossed over the railing after Kelly Peyton managed to kick him in the face, causing his cheek to bleed. He watched in horror as he saw Grace disappear from sight.

Shortly downward Renee saw Grace falling and she attempted to grab him but missed. Renee was then hit from behind by Dean as she stumbled down a few more steps.

Grace was falling fast and attempting to grab whatever he could. Everything seemed to be going to slow motion as he was falling to his death. He doubted he could survive the six floor fall. Then, one of his attempts to grab hold of something worked. His right hand had caught hold of a railing and he now was hanging on the second floor.

Rene got back on her feet and grabbed her gun from the ground and aimed it at Dean. She fired and shot him in the leg. He yelled in pain and stumbled down onto one of the stairs. She ran up at him but was stopped.

Angle had lifted Weiss and thrown him down the stairs at Renee. Weiss came in contact with Renee and the two fell down the flight of stairs, landing where Dixon was. Peyton and Angle approached Dean and helped him up.

"We got to go another way," said Peyton. "We'll alert the guards."

Renee in much pain was attempting to get up as she saw Dean stumbling up the stairs followed by Peyton and Angle. Grace ran up the stairs and fired at them but he missed. He ran after them as fast as he could.

Grace ran into Dean's office and from around the corner was punched in the face. Grace fell down on the floor and then saw the brawny Angle standing over him.

"How'd you survive falling you little..." Angle lifted Grace from the floor by his throat. Grace's feet left the floor. Angle shoved him against the wall and pulled out a knife. "Well you won't survive this one."

"Quentin!" yelled Kelly from the other room.

"I'm coming," he called back. "Just a quick sec..."

Grace managed to kick Angle in the groin causing him to lose the grip of the knife and Grace's throat. Grace fell to the floor but quickly got up. Now hunched over, Angle was a little shorter. Grace slugged him in the face causing him to fall to the floor. Grace's hand hurt a lot after it.

Then from behind, Kelly Peyton hit Grace in the back of the head with a lamp. Grace fell to the floor and the lamp shattered. Peyton ran over to Angle and helped him out.

"Come on we got to go," she said.

"Let me just take care of him," said Angle referring to Grace.

"We don't have the time," said Peyton. She rushed out of the room with Angle leaving Grace lying on the floor in pain.

Dixon, Renee and Weiss quickly came up and helped Grace to his feet.

"We have to get out of here," said Weiss. "The guards will be up here soon."

"We have to get the Artifact," reminded Renee.

"There's no chance," argued Weiss. "We have to get out."


	4. Chapter 4

1**Quick Note: **I recently changed Chapter Two slightly. I added a few lines into Sydney and Renee's conversation when they met in Venice. I forgot to have Sydney tell Renee about

the message she had received and I was planning on doing this. Thank you to "Five Stories Fallen" for pointing this out.

**Chapter IV**

**LOS ANGELES**

APO was less chaotic with the return of Weiss, Dixon, and Grace. Jack and Sydney had decided with them and Renee that the story would be, they managed to escape from Dean's facility when it was ambushed by a third party. The group had also said they had seen Dean flee with the Artifact and that he is still in possession of it.

When Sydney finally got the time she asked Eric Weiss to come with her to a coffee shop. After both ordering different coffees, the two sat down at a table and Sydney took a deep breath and began to tell Weiss about the message.

Weiss listened in disbelief and after Sydney had finished there was a long pause.

"Do you still have the message?" asked Weiss.

"APO has it recorded but I deleted it," answered Sydney. "It sounded exactly like him..."

"Sydney," began Weiss, "I have seen a lot and heard a lot of things working for our government. Some things seemed impossible and yet I saw them happen. Now, I'm not implying that this...person was Vaughn because it just doesn't seem logical. Like you said, you saw him die..."

"I just don't know what to believe."

Arvin sat in front of his fire place as the flame began dying out. It was eleven and Gordon Dean had not called and APO still did not have the Artifact.

Then out of nowhere came the ringing of his cell phone. Arvin got up and picked it up from an end table and he answered it.

"Hello?" Arvin called.

"Good evening Arvin," said Gordon Dean. "I was unaware that APO was sending in criminals to do their work now."

"Excuse me?" asked Arvin.

"Well Renee Rienne came to my facility this evening and she helped our APO prisoners escape and I'm pretty sure she was after my Artifact."

"I had no knowledge of that. The three agents told APO that they managed to escape after a third party infiltrated your building."

"Well, yes but the third party was Rene Rienne."

"What does this matter have to do with our agreement?"

"Well for one thing, Arvin, I'd like for you to give me a heads up when APO plans on coming after me."

"Do you have your price yet?"

"Actually Arvin I do. But there's one another thing."

"What is it?"

"After we make our trade, I want you to continue to help me. You proved to be quite resourceful and I'm sure you will continue to be."

"And if I don't?"

"Then I'll will make sure APO finds out you worked out this negotiation with me. Now do we have a deal?"

Arvin Sloane paused and thought about the consequences of both choices but he realized one option was better than the other.

"We have a deal."

"Good," said Gordon Dean. "Now for my price. I will give you The Antithesis which will heal your daughter if you give me...Sydney Bristow."

"What?"

"Just like I said, Arvin, I'll give you the Antithesis and you, in return, will give me Sydney Bristow."

"What do you need her for?" asked Arvin.

"_I _don't personally need her," said Dean. "My superiors do."

"Who are your superiors?"

"Why so many questions, Arvin? Besides, you can probably guess who they are. And you know why they need Sydney. After all, you are still a follower of Rambaldi no matter how many times you deny it. Once a follower, always a follower, don't you agree?"

Arvin did not answer. He realized what Dean was talking about.

"You don't mean..."

"Yes Arvin, the Forgotten Prophecy. See, I knew you'd figure it out."

"That means..."

"Oh Arvin stop pretending to be so shocked. You knew it would eventually come to this. Who else would be the Gatherer? You knew she wanted this more than anything. Now, let's see, where can we make a safe exchange?"

"I can't do it..."

"Oh Arvin, stop pretending like you care for her. You know the outcome, you've read the Prophecy. _We _aren't going to kill her. The son will. Whether you bring Sydney or not, she will eventually get caught and she'll have to face her fate. You can't stop fate, Arvin."

Arvin didn't say anything. At this moment he fell back into his chair.

"Now, tomorrow night, I want to meet you in Los Angeles. Let's say at eight thirty, downtown. The alleyway across from the old closed down club. Do you know where I'm talking about?"

"Yes."

"Meet me there at eight-thirty with Sydney and I'll give you the Antithesis. And Arvin don't try to pull something over. This is your only chance to save your daughter. Remember that."

Gordon Dean hung up.

"Our main goal is still to retrieve The Antithesis," said Jack, "but we again don't know the location of Gordon Dean. We sent a team in to infiltrate the building where he was keeping Agent Dixon, Agent Grace, and Eric Weiss in and we received a great deal of information which is still being looked over. Hopefully we'll gain some more Intel. But for now we can only wait."

After the short update Jack gave to Sydney, Dixon, Grace, Rachel, Marshall, and Sloane the next morning, he dismissed them all except Sydney.

"What is it, Dad?" she asked after everyone had left.

"They're transporting Christoph tonight," said Jack. "Langley doesn't want to keep him here."

"What? That's ridiculous, do they know the dangers of that?" asked Sydney.

"Sydney, I know how you feel about it but I can't change their decision. I just got the word today, I'm sorry it's so sudden."

"It's not going to turn out good," said Sydney. "And they'll regret making that decision."

"Why am I being transferred?" asked Christoph.

"They think this cell isn't safe enough," answered Sydney. "And they think by moving you to one of their prisons that there is less of a chance of you escaping."

"When am I leaving?"

"Tonight."

"Are they going to kill me?"

"No, my father and I have made sure they wouldn't."

"Why would you do that?"

"What?"

"I mean, after everything I said to you and your father. Why wouldn't you want me killed?"

"You might prove to help us in the future."

"I could help you now."

"Like how?"

"I know what's going to happen, Sydney."

"What do you mean?"

"I know what's going to happen to you."

"Why? What's going to happen to me?"

There was a long pause. "Christoph," said Sydney, "What's going to happen? Am I in danger?"

"Yes. I should have told you earlier but I was ordered not to," answered Christoph.

Then a guard came over to the cell.

"Ms. Bristow," said the guard, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave the prisoner by order of Langley. He is not suppose to have visitors the day of his transferring."

"I'm sorry but I haven't heard about this rule," said Sydney. "And I don't see why it's necessary."

"I'm sorry," said the guard. "Langley's orders."

Sydney gave a single glance at Madeira.

"I'll meet you at the prison later," said Sydney.

"Don't be long," said Christoph almost as a warning.

Sydney sat at her desk thinking about her last words with Christoph. This whole week had been overwhelming and stressful and now she was told she was in danger. She didn't want to be anywhere but home now. She wanted to be safe in her bed and comfortable. Why did she ever chose a life like this?

She had been contemplating on leaving APO and the CIA once her child was born. She would never have time to be a mother while working for the CIA. She wanted to watch her child grow up unlike her father did with her. She wasn't going to have her child turn out like her. Although, in reality, she wasn't a bad person, she just thought she was.

Rachel could see that Sydney was stressed. She came over.

"I heard about them transferring Madeira," she said. "Do you really think something's going to happen?"

"Well it happened numerous times with Sark," answered Sydney.

"Is there something else that's wrong?" asked Rachel.

Sydney looked up. She didn't want to lie to Rachel but wasn't sure if she should tell her.

"Sydney, if you don't want me to know, I understand..."

"No, it's not that. It's just...Well, just now, I was talking to Christoph and he told me...he knew something."

"What does he know?"

"I don't know. All he said was he knew I was in danger and he wasn't suppose to tell anyone. But he knows something and...I can't help but feel that...something's going to happen."

"Did you tell your father?" asked Rachel.

"No," answered Sydney. "Do you think I should?"

"If you don't feel safe you should," said Rachel.

"Sydney," said a voice.

Rachel and Sydney turned and saw Arvin Sloane approaching.

"Sydney," said Sloane again. "Can I talk with you for a moment? In private?"

"Yeah," answered Sydney a bit confused. "Sure."

"It's just about Nadia," informed Sloane.

"Alright. I'll be right back Rachel."

"Okay."

Sydney and Sloane walked away from Sydney's desk and into an office. Sloane shut the door of the office behind him.

"Is everything okay?" asked Sydney.

"I'm hoping so," answered Sloane. "The doctors say it's a fifty-fifty chance for her to be cured and they think that maybe I should bring her home for more comfort. And I know I don't normally come to you with personal things but I was wondering if you'd like to help me get a room ready for her tonight. You lived with her for a while, I'm guessing you know what she likes. We might be able to bring her home two days from now."

"Sure," said Sydney. "I'm free. I'd love to help."

"Thank you," said Sloane. "Come to my house around seven. But, I'd rather not have other people know about this only because I don't want word getting out that my daughter is leaving the safety of the hospital. We're trying to get her home as quietly as possible. We don't want the wrong people getting to her."

"Of course."

"So I'll see you tonight at seven."

"Is everything okay?" asked Rachel to Sydney when she returned from having her conversation with Sloane.

"Yeah," said Sydney. "He's just having a rough time."

"Alright," said Rachel. "Tom invited me over tonight so I won't be home until later, maybe at eleven."

"Okay," said Sydney. "I'm going out tonight too. I should be home by then."

Sydney pulled up to Sloane's house at 6:55. She stepped out of her car and carried a bag of Nadia's things. Sydney locked the doors and approached Sloane's large house. There was a tall fence which enclosed the mansion. Sydney approached the gate and pressed a button. Soon after the gates opened, allowing Sydney onto Sloane's property.

"I'm glad you could come," said Sloane after taking the bag of Nadia's things from Sydney. "Let's bring these upstairs."

The two walked up to the third floor. Sydney followed Sloane down a hallway and then into a large bedroom. Most of the room was already set up but it looked a little dull. Sloane placed Nadia's things on the large, queen-sized bed.

"It looks pretty good so far," said Sydney.

"I tried to do the best I could for her," said Sloane.

Sydney turned to Sloane. "Arvin, I know Nadia loves you. And I know you regret what you did to her. And when she wakes up she'll realize that. You're not as bad of a father as you think you are."

"If you were my daughter, would you forgive me?" asked Sloane.

"I can see you're doing anything you can to find a cure for her," said Sydney, avoiding his question. "She'll appreciate that."

There was a short pause as the two looked at each other. In truth, Sydney did believe he had regret but she personally would never forgive him.

"I'm going to get some more things," said Sloane. "You can start setting up."

"Alright," said Sydney.

Sloane left the room and Sydney went into the bag. She first grabbed a picture frame which held a photograph of her and Nadia. Sydney smiled at it for a while and then placed it on an end table. She turned around and jumped back in fear.

Arvin Sloane was standing there with a tranquilizer gun aimed at her.

"I'm sorry, Sydney. Please forgive me," he said and then he fired. Sydney was hit with the tranquilizer. She approached Sloane in rage but became dizzy in the process. The room started spinning. She tried to speak but her speech was slurred. The room went blurry and the last thing she felt were arms catching her and placing her on a soft bed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V.**

**ARIZONA**

Christoph Madeira sat in the back of a large truck. His hands were handcuffed and his legs were locked onto a bench. Across from him in the dark truck were two guards both armed. Driving, was another armed guard and in the passenger seat was another guard, both of which Christoph could not see.

They had been driving for hours now. Christoph could not see outside due to the fact that there were no windows in the back of the truck but he could hear the patter of rain outside and he occasionally heard thunder. He knew his life was in peril now that he had warned Sydney. His mother's followers had eyes and ears everywhere. He didn't think he'd be alive when Sydney saw him again. All he knew he would never make it to the prison. Somebody out there knew he was being transferred and somebody was going to get him but whether they were going to kill him or use him was their own choice.

Just then, as if predicted, Christoph Madeira heard a voice come from one of the guard's transceivers.

"Someone's tailing us," it said and just after that was heard, the truck flipped over. Christoph was thrown all around the truck. It tipped over at least twice before hitting a tree and coming to a stop. Christoph opened his eyes. The car was upside down. Both of the guards in the back seat with him were alive and slowly getting up.

And then Christoph realized his legs were free. He jumped up, realizing he could get away, and kicked one of the guards in the face. The guard fell back to the ground as his nose began bleeding. The other guard got up quickly to grab Christoph but he swung his locked arms, hitting the guard in the face. Christoph then went over and attempted to grab the keys off him. But the guard swung at Christoph knocking him backward.

He got up and began approaching Christoph. In the corner of his eye Christoph noticed a gun on the floor. He leaped over to it and grabbed it. He aimed and shot, killing the guard. He turned to where the other, nose-bleeding, guard was but he wasn't where Christoph expected him.

Then, two arms came around him and Christoph was tossed to the floor. He lost grasp of the gun and it slid along the floor. He was now pinned to the ground. The guard was on top of him and had one of his hands pushing Christoph's head to the floor. Christoph's handcuffed arms were underneath him and all he could move were his legs.

With all the strength he had, Christoph lifted himself from the ground. He tossed the guard off him. He then began crawling over to the gun but one of his legs were grabbed by the guard. He reached out for the gun but his fingers just missed its handle. He was now being pulled farther away from it.

Christoph flipped over on his back and kicked the guard in the face a second time. A tooth came out of the guard's mouth as he fell backward. Christoph went to move but realized the guard still had grasp of his ankle.

The guard grabbed tighter and it felt as though his ankle was going to snap. Christoph took a kick at the guard's arm and the guard released his grasp. But Christoph didn't get far. The guard leaped at Christoph. The guard landed on top of him and began punching him. Christoph managed to knock him over, the two rolled around, taking punches when getting the opportunity. Several times they ran into the walls of the truck, almost knocking it over on its sides.

The two continued to grapple with each other, trying to knock the other one out as soon as possible. More blood splattered the truck from each of the men and they seemed to have been fighting for almost five minutes when the guard knocked Madeira off of him. Christoph fell

over in exhaust. The guard crawled over and grabbed the gun. Christoph leaped at the guard and he fired in defense but missed Christoph. The two struggled again against each other both in a battle for the gun. But the struggle didn't last long.

The guard tossed Christoph into the wall. Christoph banged his head as it began to bleed. The guard right then and there could have killed Christoph but he knew the CIA wanted him alive. As quickly as possible, he got up and went over to Christoph who was lying on the floor. He lifted the limp Christoph up and he put his arm around his neck and held the gun to his temple.

"If you move," began the guard, "I will shoot you."

Christoph heard the words but they didn't properly function in his brain. He was too exhausted from the fight and his head was spinning. He understood that he was now being held hostage by a guard with a gun and he knew it wouldn't be safe to attempt to escape at the moment.

Then, the doors at the back of the truck opened up. The guard holding Christoph turned and just managed to see a blonde man shoot him. The guard fell to the floor. Christoph stumbled to the ground but he had not been shot. He turned to the door and saw a blonde man with two other men standing next to him.

"Christoph Madeira," said the blonde man with a British accent. "My name is Julian Sark."

**LOS ANGELES**

Rachel opened the front door to the house at eleven and then locked it behind her. She had had a good night and was planning on seeing Grace again. She put her bag down on the couch. It was dark in the house. Maybe Sydney was already in bed.

"Syd," Rachel called. There was no answer. Rachel walked into Sydney's bedroom to find a neatly made bed empty. "Syd," Rachel called a second time.

Maybe she just hadn't come back yet. Rachel decided she'd wait up for her. She made her way back into the living room and turned on a few lights. She grabbed the remote and turned on the television and began flipping through the channels.

After going through almost every channel, Rachel got up and went to the refrigerator for a snack. She grabbed an apple and then went over to the phone. She dialed Sydney's number. The phone went straight to her voice mail.

"Hi this is Sydney, leave a message."

Beep.

"Hi Syd," began Rachel, "It's Rachel, just wondering where you are. Um, call me when you get this message."

Rachel hung up the phone and went back to the couch with her apple. She hoped everything was alright. Maybe she was just being paranoid.

Almost an hour had passed and still no sign of Sydney. Rachel was now panicking. She called Sydney's cell phone but again, there was no answer. Rachel looked out the window but did not see Sydney's car.

Then Rachel remembered what Sydney had said back at APO. She thought she was in danger. Christoph said she was in danger.

"Shit," murmured Rachel. She grabbed her keys and ran out the door.

She went straight to her car and jumped in the driver's seat. She pulled out of the driveway in a hurry and sped down the street. While driving she grabbed her cell phone and dialed APO. After three rings Jack picked up.

"Hello," he said, sounding a bit flustered.

"Mr. Bristow, this is Rachel Gibson," said Rachel.

"Is everything alright?" asked Jack.

"I don't think so," said Rachel. "Sydney didn't come home tonight. I don't know where she is but earlier today she told me that Christoph Madeira told her she was in trouble and she said she didn't feel safe. Is Christoph Madeira still in custody?"

"No, just about an hour ago he was being transferred and somebody helped him escape, just like Sydney predicted. Did you try her cell phone."

"Several times. There was no answer. I'm heading over to APO now."

"I'll call in the other agents."

**THREE HOURS EARLIER**

Sloane was in the alley way, sitting in his car with a trussed and gaged Sydney in the back seat. She was still not conscience. Multiple times Sloane had wondered if he should turn back. He loved Sydney but he loved Nadia as well.

He reminded himself that this was Sydney's fate. That this was suppose to happen. Rambaldi predicted it himself. But why did he have to be a part of it? Why did he have to be The Gatherer?

Yet, wasn't he proud of himself and wasn't he honored to be the Gatherer, not too long ago when he had first read the Prophecy? When he discovered the Passenger's father would play an important role in the Forgotten Prophecy, wasn't he willing to do anything Rambaldi required him to do? Why had his feelings changed?

Maybe it was because he knew the outcome. Deep down, he knew he was eventually going to bring The Chosen One to her fate. He gathered her for the Twelve Disciples. It said this would happen in the Forgotten Prophecy. He was a Disciple. He had be given the gift of becoming a Disciple and he knew he'd eventually rejoin with the other eleven.

Five minutes late, Gordon Dean pulled up in a car and stepped out. Following him were Kelly Peyton and a large colossal man that Arvin Sloane did not know.

Arvin stepped out of his car.

"Do you have Sydney Bristow?" asked Gordon Dean.

"Do you have The Antithesis?" asked Sloane.

"Of course," said Dean.

"Show me," demanded Arvin.

"Show us the girl," Dean commanded.

Arvin went to his car and opened the back door. With the strength he had left in his old body, he lifted Sydney from the back seat and carried her out.

"Good job, Arvin," said Dean. He turned to Peyton and nodded. Peyton went to the car and grabbed a black case from the passenger seat of the car. She shut the door and carried the case to Dean, who she handed it to.

"Open it," Arvin said.

Gordon Dean did as Arvin requested. Dean unlatched the sides of the case and inside was a cylinder. The cylinder contained a liquid with a greenish tint.

"How do I know that is really The Antithesis?" asked Sloane.

"Doesn't it appear to resemble the pictures Rambaldi drew of it?" asked Dean. "And besides Arvin, why would I want to double-cross you? You know the Prophecy. She is mentioned in the Forgotten Prophecy and it claims she will awaken."

"Put the case next to my feet," said Arvin.

"How do I know you won't flee?" asked Dean.

"This is Sydney's fate. Like you said, I can't change it."

Gordon Dean grinned and shut the case. He handed it to the mammoth man to his left. The man walked over to Sloane and placed the case next to his feet.

"Hand Sydney to Mr. Angle," said Dean. Arvin looked at the large man who was about twice or maybe three times his height. Arvin Sloane handed him Sydney hesitantly. Mr. Angle took Sydney in his gargantuan arms and carried her back over to Gordon Dean.

"Promise me you won't hurt her," said Sloane.

"Arvin, I already told you, _we _aren't going to hurt her. You know what is going to happen," said Dean. "It was nice doing business with you."

Mr. Angle went into the backseat with Sydney. Kelly stepped into the driver's side and Gordon Dean went back to the passenger seat. He shut the door and the car back out of the alleyway.

Sloane stood in the alleyway for quite some time. He began crying.

He had begun the Prophecy.

Jack was a wreck. The last time he felt like this was when Sydney went missing after her house had burned down. And now she was missing again. He couldn't stand to lose her for another two years if that was to be the case. What if she was gone longer? What if she was to be gone forever? And not only was she missing but Christoph Madeira had escaped.

Dixon, Grace, Rachel, and Marshall were all waiting in the briefing room. Jack was still in his office, trying to get a hold of himself and decide the best plan of action.

"And she didn't tell you where she going?" asked Dixon.

"No and I didn't ask," said Rachel.

"And she said she felt like she was in danger?" asked Marshall.

"I told her to tell Jack and I thought she was going to," said Rachel.

"Do you have any idea where she could have gone?" asked Grace.

Rachel paused and she seemed to have realized something. "I might."

"Well?"

Just then Arvin Sloane walked in.

"I'm sorry I'm late," said Sloane. "I stopped by the hospital to see Nadia. What's wrong?"

"Sydney's missing," answered Dixon.

"What?" asked Sloane.

"She didn't come home," said Rachel.

Jack now entered the briefing room.

"My daughter seems to have disappeared without a trace," said Jack. "One neighbor said she noticed her enter the house and then leave with a box. They were unsure of what was in the box. Rachel was anything missing from the house? Anything you noticed?"

"No," answered Rachel.

"I know she told you she felt that she was in danger," said Jack. "Did she say why she thought she was in danger?"

"No," answered Rachel. "All she told me was Christoph Madeira said she was in jeopardy."

"What happened after that?" asked Jack.

Rachel paused andgave a quick glance towards Sloane. "Before she told me she was going out, she talked to Sloane."

They all turned to Sloane.

"Arvin," said Jack, "What did you two talk about?"

Sloane kept his composure and answered. "I was thanking her for coming by to see Nadia the other day. Even though Nadia cannot answer, I still believe she can recognize who's in the room with her and I was telling Sydney that I believed it helped Nadia in spirt."

"That's a lie," said Rachel.

"Excuse me?" said Jack.

"Well it's either you're lying or Sydney's lying because she told me that you needed comfort because Nadia wasn't doing so well," announced Rachel.

There was a long pause.

"Well Arvin," said Jack, "Which is it?" Jack looked as though he was about to explode.

Sloane didn't answer. He didn't make eye contact with anybody in the room. He stared at the table and seemed to be deep in thought. Or maybe he realized that he was cornered and he had no way of getting himself out now.

Jack moved his way over to Sloane with animosity and lifted him from his chair from his collar. Sloane was taken aback by Jack's fierce and sudden movements. Jack swung Sloane into the wall and pinned him there.

"If you put my daughter's life in any sort of jeopardy, I swear to you, I will..."

At this point, Dixon and Grace came over and pulled Jack away from Sloane.

"We're both lying," said Sloane.

"What?" asked Rachel.

"You said one of us had to be lying," said Sloane. "We both are."

Sydney opened her eyes and saw a ceiling. She didn't fully take in her surroundings. Her first instinct was to get up, find Sloane and shove that tranquilizer he shot her with down his throat. But Sydney then realized she was tied down when she attempted to get up. Both arms were tied to her sides and her legs were also tied at the bottom of a bed.

Sydney took a look at the bed. It was covered in a white blanket and looked very similar to a hospital bed. Was she taken to the hospital? Did somebody come and find her and take Sloane into custody already? But then she looked around the room and realized, she wasn't in a hospital. The room was vacant and there were no windows. The only thing that was illuminating the room was coming from the lights on the ceiling. There was a large mirror and Sydney knew somebody was on the other side looking in on her. The mirror was next to a door which was in a far corner of the room.

Sydney put head back down on the comfortable pillow and looked back up at the ceiling and then saw something she hadn't noticed before. Above her was a gigantic red Rambaldi symbol and she was right underneath it's "O".

"What did you do with her, Arvin?" asked Jack.

Sloane didn't answer.

"Arvin!" yelled Dixon unexpectedly.

Sloane looked up and everybody saw that he was crying.

"It wasn't suppose to happen like this," Sloane managed to sobber out.

"Arvin, is my daughter dead?" asked Jack.

"No," answered Sloane. "She isn't dead yet."

"_Yet!_ What do you mean 'she isn't dead _yet_!"

"Nobody's going to kill her Jack," mumbled Sloane.

"How is she going to die?" asked Jack.

"This was her fate, Jack," said Sloane. "You couldn't have changed it."

Just then the phone in the briefing room began ringing. Dixon, Grace, Rachel and Marshall all turned to it. Jack kept his glance on Sloane. The phone rang and second time. Dixon looked at Jack who made no movements as to go answer it so Dixon walked over to the phone and picked it up.

"Hello this is Agent Dixon," said Dixon.

There was a pause. "Who is this?" asked Dixon. Then another pause. "Hold on." Dixon covered the phone.

"Jack," said Dixon. "It's a man, he wants to talk to you. He didn't tell me his name but he said he knows something about Sydney."

Jack turned and went for the phone and then stopped and said, "Put him on speaker phone."

Dixon followed his order.

"Hello," said Jack.

"Ah Jack," said the voice, "How are you. You don't sound like you've changed a bit. Still a bitter man, I suppose." Marshall found himself nodding in agreement but soon after stopped.

"Who is this?" asked Jack.

"What?" asked the man. "You don't recognize my voice? I think I've lost some of my Russian accent over the years of living in Australia but I still thought you were going to be able to recognize me after all we've been through."

"I don't have the time to play guessing games," said Jack.

"Actually you do have the time. Don't worry about Sydney, she's fine and comfortable I assure you."

"How do you know this?"

"Well I'm looking at her right now through glass. She looks as flustered as you sound. I think she looks more like her mother though."

"Who is this?"

"Let's see, what hints can I give you? I don't want to make it too obvious. Well you once threatened to cut both my balls off but I think you said it more gentlemen like. You always had a way with words. Let's see, what did you say? Oh yes, I pretty sure it was, 'Tell me where your sister is or I'll have the pleasure of amputating your testicles.'"

With that disturbing quote Jack realized who this was.

"I think he's finally got it!" said the voice. "It took you long enough. You never managed to amputate those did you Jack?"

"You're suppose to be dead," said Jack.

"A lot of people are suppose to be dead. But that plane crash, c'mon, you didn't figure it out? It was planned, Jack. Even I thought you would have guessed that."

"That means..."

"Yup, everybody who was on the plane survived."

"What do you want with Sydney?" asked Jack.

"Well this conversation has already run over the expected time so I'm going to have to tell you to ask Arvin Sloane. Oh, and don't believe him when he says he doesn't know. You know how convincing Arvin is at lying. Well I'm going to have to let you go, Jack. And don't bothering trying to trace this call. I assure you, it won't work. Have a fantastic night and don't attempt to murder Sloane after he tells you."

Then the man hung up.

Sydney heard the door to the room open. She lifted her head and saw Gordon Dean enter the room.

"You're behind this?" asked Sydney. "You son of..."

Gordon Dean laughed. "No Sydney, I'm afraid I am not _behind this _as you think. I'm just merely a playing piece, as you are."

"So you and Sloane were working together?"

"We managed to chat a couple of times but that's about it," said Dean.

"Why am I here?" asked Sydney.

"Well I'm not here to tell you that," said Dean. "Somebody else will be explaining that to you. I'm not worthy. But I can tell you a few things. I managed to make contact with Arvin Sloane after Miss Peyton managed to retrieve the Antithesis. Oh, she wants me to tell you that she says 'Hi and that she would have came down with me to see you but she was a bit busy.' Her and Mr. Angle haven't got the chance to have some privacy in quite some time. So, anyways, I told Sloane that I would give him the Antithesis in return for something. That something was you. And so after he knocked you out, we met in an alley and we traded. I gave him The Antithesis, as I said, and he gave me you. By now he's probably already used it on Nadia and it will take almost a whole day for her to recover. So Arvin Sloane traded you for his daughter's life so I expect you're not as angry at him as you were before."

"But why do you need me?" asked Sydney.

"_I_ don't personally need you," said Dean. "Like I said I'm not _behind this_. But you mean a lot to a handful of people, Sydney. Well now, I must go. I'll be seeing probably again." Dean turned around and began walking away.

"Where am I?" asked Sydney.

Gordon Dean turned back around. "Well I suppose it wouldn't matter if I told you. You're on a boat, which is somewhere now in the Pacific Ocean."

"Does all this have to do with Rambaldi?" asked Sydney.

"I'm sorry," began Gordon Dean. "But I think that is the most unintelligent question you have asked, Sydney Bristow. Of course this has to do with Milo Rambaldi."

"Jack," said Dixon, "Who was that?"

Jack sat down and took a deep breath. Arvin did not return to his seat. He stayed up against the wall that Jack pushed him against. He, too, knew who was on the other line.

"I'm sure all know, that Irina Derevko has two sisters. Katya Derevko and Elena Derevko, who Irina shot. But what most people don't know is...Irina also had two brothers."

Jack took another pause. "I have no authority to tell you the rest but pretty soon it will be leaked out. The reason why so few people don't know this is because the CIA wanted to keep it a secret after a plane crash Irina's two brothers were in. It was said that the KGB plane crashed and killed all of its eight passengers who were on the plane. Their bodies were never found. The reason why the CIA wanted to make it seem like Irina's brothers never existed because the CIA had worked with them. Only a small group of agents knew this. This was even kept from the President. The two brothers helped the CIA with a lot of wanted terrorists for money. I was let in on this secret because shortly before the CIA began working with them, Irina Derevko was discovered to be a spy from the KGB after she disappeared from the car crash. But the two brothers never told me where Irina was. And unfortunately for one of them I came face to face with him and was going to torture the answer out of him but the CIA forced me not to because they didn't want the Derevko brothers to turn on them. After some years the CIA wanted to stop working with them but the brothers refused and said that they would tell the President if they stopped. So once the brothers were presumed dead, the CIA got rid of records of them and destroyed some of their own property that might have linked the CIA to them. That man, who I was just talking to is the youngest of the Derevko siblings. His name is Alexander Derevko."

"No other agencies knew about the brothers? NSA? The FBI?" asked Rachel.

"When the Irina Derevko was discovered to be a spy we did a background check on her. We found out her parents' names, where she was born. And then the CIA was trying to dig further. When the Derevko brothers figured this out, they had the CIA stop their search on her because they didn't want to be discovered. The CIA did so and told everybody that they couldn't find any more information on Irina. As years went on, it was discovered that the CIA didn't cover up tracks very well and eventually it was discovered that she had two sisters. But it was never revealed that she had two brothers."

"What's the other brother's name?" asked Grace.

"Cain Derevko," said Jack. "I unfortunately came face to face with him. Now, I am trusting you four that this will never leave this room."

"What about Sloane?" asked Rachel.

"He already knew all of that," said Jack. He turned to Sloane. "Why do they want Sydney, Arvin?"

"They want her because she's mentioned in another Rambaldi Prophecy," answered Sloane after another long pause. He still didn't make any eye contact.

"What prophecy?" asked Jack.

"This prophecy was kept a secret," explained Sloane. "Not many people knew about it and it was referred to as the 'Forgotten Prophecy'. It was discovered in Iraq a couple of years ago but I do not know who discovered it."

"What does this prophecy say?" asked Dixon.

"It says that The Chosen One's first child and only child will be a boy. And that this boy will be the reincarnation of Rambaldi and that he, at the age of four, will show the location where Rambaldi's serum for immortality is."

"So you kidnaped Sydney just so somebody would discover where immortality supposedly is?" asked Rachel.

"No," answered Sloane. "I gave Gordon Dean Sydney and in return he gave me the Antithesis for Nadia."

"Are they going to kill Sydney?" asked Marshall.

"The Forgotten Prophecy has the whole series of events. Some of the events already occurred."

"Like what?" asked Grace.

"It predicted that The Gatherer would retrieve The Chosen One and bring her to the Twelve Disciples."

"The Twelve Disciples?" asked Rachel.

"There a group of twelve Rambaldi followers who have been mention by Rambaldi himself in the Prophecy. He claims these are his most loyal followers and that they will be the first twelve to gain immortality."

"And The Gatherer?" asked Dixon. "The Gatherer is you?"

"Yes," answered Sloane. "I am one of the Twelve Disciples."

"If you do not tell me where my daughter is," said Jack, "I will make sure you never want to be apart of a Rambaldi Prophecy again."

"Jack I don't know where Sydney is," said Sloane. "I am not lying and even if I did know you have no way of stopping the Prophecy. It has already begun."

"Well it said the Twelve Disciples would be the first twelve to gain immortality, won't you eventually find out?" asked Rachel.

"I am expecting to," said Sloane.

"Well when you do Arvin, I expect you to tell me," said Jack. "And you aren't leaving APO for any reason at all."

"Who's in charge of all of this?" asked Marshall.

"I don't know exactly who it is but the Prophecy refers to them as The Descendant, who is the oldest living relative to Rambaldi."

"Is Sydney going to die?" asked Marshall. "Are they going to kill her?"

"No," said Sloane. "According to the Prophecy The Chosen One will have the child and she will die after giving birth. Her own infant will kill her."

Sydney lay in the bed attempting to somehow release her hands but she couldn't no matter how hard she tried. She wished she would have told somebody where she going but no, she listened to Sloane and believed for once that he actually cared about somebody else besides himself. But yet again, he did this for Nadia and Sydney hoped The Antithesis would wake her. So this is what Christoph Madeira was talking about. This is why she was in danger. Maybe APO would get hold of him and ask him for help. After all, she told Rachel that Christoph said she was in danger. This idea brought hope to Sydney. Maybe APO would find her and save her.

But then her hopes came down.

The door to the room opened and Sydney looked up. In walked Christoph Madeira. He had a few cuts on his face and his eye was slightly swollen. Behind him came in Julian Sark.

"Christoph?" said Sydney.

"I told you, you were in danger," he said.

"Christoph help me," begged Sydney.

"I'm afraid he can't do that," said Sark.

"You shut up you son of a bitch," yelled Sydney. "Christoph don't listen to him. He's a horrible person and he'll only betray you."

"Actually, Sydney," said Christoph, "Me and Julian here have a lot in common. And besides he has no reason to betray me"

"Why am I here?" asked Sydney. "Why do you need me?"

"Sydney you are an important piece to Rambaldi as you know. You are The Chosen One," said Sark. "But I don't feel that I am the person to tell you your importance."

"When will I know?" asked Sydney.

"There are a lot of other people who are waiting to see you," said Sark. "Once they've said their hellos I am suspecting that that is when you will discover why you are here."

"And you don't know anybody else who is behind this?" asked Dixon.

"No answered Sloane. I don't know who is behind this. It could be anyone," said Sloane.

"You don't know who the other Twelve Disciples are, yet you are one yourself?" asked Grace. "And how did you know you were the Gatherer?"

"The Prophecy said The Gatherer is the father of The Passenger," answered Sloane.

"Is Nadia apart of this prophecy?" asked Jack.

"She doesn't play a very important role," said Sloane.

"Is Gordon Dean apart of the prophecy?" asked Dixon.

"From what I know, I don't think so. He doesn't fit the description of any of the Disciples but I am guessing that who ever the Descendent is, they promised immortality for him, Kelly Peyton, and Mr. Angle."

"Do you have a copy of this prophecy?" asked Jack.

"At home," said Sloane. "I could go and get it..."

"No," said Jack. "You are not leaving APO. Where in your house is it?"

"Underneath my bed, there is a rectangular safe. It's metal," explained Sloane. "The Prophecy is in there but the safe won't open unless my index finger touches the pad on it."

"Dixon, Grace, go to Sloane's house and retrieve the safe," ordered Jack. "Sloane, give us your keys."

Sloane took his keys out of his pocket making it clear that he wasn't too happy about all this. He handed them to Jack, reluctantly, who handed them to Dixon.

"Get back here as soon as possible."

"At the moment," said Sark, "I would like you to say hello to someone who has missed you dearly." Sark turned to the door. The knob on the door twisted and then the door opened wide.

In walked Francie Calfo. Well she resembled Francie Calfo with every inch of her body but Sydney knew she was not her old friend Francie. Her name was Alison Doren.

"I'm sure you remember Alison," said Sark. "The woman that you tried to kill." She walked up to Sark and he put his arm around her.

"I've missed you Sydney," she said with a voice that sounded exactly like Francie's or at least from what Sydney remembered of it. "I just wanted to come in and say hello."

"This is unbelievable," murmured Sydney.

"Oh," said Sark, "There are plenty more surprises."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

**LOS ANGELES**

Jack, Sloane, Rachel, and Marshall all waited in the briefing room for Grace and Dixon to return with the copy of the Forgotten Prophecy. Sloane had sat down but seemed to be mentally distant and his thoughts were unknown. Jack was pacing the room, something Marshall had never seen him do before. Rachel sat in worry and it was clear she was blaming a lot of this on herself but she seemed to be the only one doing it. Marshall, honestly, felt a bit out of place. He hadn't felt he contributed to the lengthy discussion and he wanted to help find Sydney just as much as the next agent. Except maybe Jack. He just felt at the moment that he was worthless.

"What's taking them so long?" asked Jack. He turned to Sloane. "What have you done? You double crossed us again, didn't you?"

Sloane was awoken from his deep thought. "Of course I didn't. I told you right where it was, Jack. And I don't like the feeling I'm getting from you."

"Oh really? And what feeling is that?"

"Hatred."

"Well normally, a father is suppose to feel hatred to someone who kidnaped his daughter, don't you think? Wouldn't you feel a little hatred toward someone who kidnaped Nadia?"

"Not if it was destiny for her to be kidnaped."

"Stop with this destiny bullshit, Arvin. Rambaldi has been wrong on countless occasions and you better hope that he's wrong again and that we find Sydney."

"Rambaldi is never wrong. What we interpret from him can be wrong and incorrect."

"Well then, you better hope that the interpretation of this prophecy was incorrect."

"Honestly, Jack I don't believe it is."

Jack smacked Arvin across the face in frustration causing him to fall to the ground. Marshall and Rachel didn't know what to do and they didn't want to come between them. They both kind of feared Jack in a way. But Jack did not do anything more to Sloane. He walked away and continued pacing. Sloane got up with a dark red mark across his face. He seemed embarrassed not because he hadn't defended himself but because he was hit by a man who he use to call his friend. But this embarrassment did not gain Arvin any sympathy from Marshall or Rachel. He deserved it.

"Jack I never wanted it to come to this," said Arvin. "But I..."

"Shut the fuck up," ordered Jack and Arvin didn't finish his sentence.

Sloane knew how everyone else viewed him. He knew everybody believed he only cared for himself. But it wasn't true. He cared for Nadia. He had cared for Emily. He cared for Sydney and was indeed sad that she would never get to see her child grow. But he also cared for Jack. But he was soon losing his care for him as the minutes passed. He was growing the same hatred for Jack, that he had against him. And Sloane knew he'd regret all of this after he knew the location of immortality. If Jack lived long enough to hear about it. He just hadn't realized the repercussions of his actions yet and Sloane was still going to give him a chance for an apology after all of this. Unless, things got worse.

Jack caught Grace and Dixon in the corner of his eye entering APO. Dixon had a case in his hands that matched the description Sloane had given them. Soon Dixon and Grace reached the briefing room, and entered, and Grace closed the door behind him.

"Is this the safe, Arvin?" asked Jack. Sloane looked up and seemed as though he hadn't realized Dixon and Grace were back until Jack had spoke to him.

"Yes," answered Arvin. "That's it."

Jack took the box from Dixon and placed it in front of Sloane. At first Sloane just looked at Jack and his gaze sent chills up everybody's spine but Jack. There was a distinct change in his voice and mood. He no longer cared for sympathy and understanding from them.

"Open it, Arvin" demanded Jack. "Or I'll cut off your finger and place it on the pad for you."

Arvin stared at Jack a few more seconds as if to say, "Would you really do that, Jack" but he did not say any words. He brought his index finger to the pad on the front of the box and placed it. The pad scanned his finger and the box opened.

**PACIFIC OCEAN**

Sydney was now again alone in the room. She didn't know what to think and she was worried for herself. She felt as though she was going to breakdown in any moment. No more "surprises" had entered her room after Sark, Madeira, and Alison Doren left and they hadn't told her anything Sydney did not know. Everything was kept as a secret to her.

Sydney worried that she was to be brainwashed again and used like she had been for those two missing years she never could get back. She worried that her baby's life was in danger. She was worried for everyone at APO. And most importantly, she was worried for her father. How was he coping with her disappearance?

She hoped APO had discovered Sloane did this to her. She wondered why he hadn't come in to visit her? But then again, he might have stayed in Los Angeles to wait for Nadia to wake up.

Sydney now was first realizing how cold she felt in the room and she wanted desperately to get under the covers for warmth but couldn't. She was also becoming incredibly uncomfortable and she wished she could move about. She'd be no threat if she wasn't tied down. There was no possible way to escape except through the air vent which seemed to be to small for her anyway.

The giant red Rambaldi symbol hung over her like a dark cloud. Although she had seen this symbol many times before it was sending chills up her as she stared at it. The chills were a sense of danger. The symbol watched over her like an eye. She never asked to be apart of Rambaldi. She never asked or wanted to be The Chosen One. And although she doubted Rambaldi Prophecies and Artifacts, how was it that he knew who she was before she was even born? How did he know a girl like her would come along many, many years after his death? Or was it that, Rambaldi was still alive and watching her, pretending to have been a prophet who died many years ago.

Ideas and thoughts on why she was here began rushing through her mind and she wished she could shove them all out. She was frustrated and lost and she just wanted to be home, in her bed, and safe. She began crying and this was the breakdown she was bracing herself for. Soon she began crying hysterically and tears streamed down the sides of her face and onto the pillow, underneath her. She closed her eyes and hope she was going to wake up in her bed and hear Rachel in the shower. Or better yet, hear Nadia making breakfast. Or better yet, open her eyes and see Vaughn lying next to her with his beautiful eyes gazing at her.

"I was watching you sleep," Vaughn said.

"Why?" asked Sydney.

"Because it makes me smile," he answered and he gave her a grin. "Were you dreaming?"

"Why would you say that?" she asked.

"Because you were talking in your sleep," said Vaughn.

Sydney smiled. "What did I say?"

"You said something like 'You're unbelievable' or 'This is unbelievable'."

"Yeah, it wasn't the most pleasant dream."

"Well don't worry about it now," he said. "You're awake."

She moved closer to him. "I never thought life could be better than a dream."

"It can."

And Sydney opened her eyes and found herself back in the empty room, tied to the bed with the large Rambaldi symbol painted above her. It was all a dream. A dream that Sydney wished could come true. But she knew it was a dream somehow before waking. It seemed so unreal yet she could almost feel the warm sun on her skin that was shining through the window. She could almost feel herself snuggled underneath her soft blankets. And she could almost feel Vaughn's gaze. But that feeling was still there.

She looked up and there Michael Vaughn was, standing about five feet from the bed frame, staring at her. His face looked expressionless but she could almost recognize a face of regret and speechlessness.

And Sydney too became speechless at the sight of him. He hadn't changed a bit. He wore a simple black suit with a tie. His hands were placed in his pockets. Was this another dream of wishful thinking?

"Vaughn..." she muttered.

"Hey Syd," he said.

"Vaughn, what's going on?" she asked.

"I know there's a lot to explain," he said. "And we have the time for that."

She stared at him and more tears were coming down her cheeks. This couldn't be possible. She saw Vaughn die. He couldn't be in the room. She was hallucinating. She had to be. Michael Vaughn was dead and buried.

"What is this?" she asked.

"You're on a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean," began Vaughn.

"I know that, I mean who are you? This isn't possible."

"Sydney, I know it seems impossible and improbable but you have to believe me when I say it's me, Michael."

"This is some sort of experiment isn't it?"

"No, it's not."

"Then I'm hallucinating."

"No you're not, its me, Michael."

"No it's not, stop saying that. You're dead!" She began crying hysterically once again. "You died..."

"I didn't die, Sydney."

"Yes you did. I planned your funeral. I saw you as your heart stopped beating. If this isn't some sick mind game then you're a double. You aren't the real Vaughn. You're just like Alison Doren. You're a fake!"

He took a step closer to her. "Syd, I'm not--"

"Stay away from me!"

"You have to believe me."

"I can't!"

There was a pause as Sydney's words echoed in the room. Vaughn turned away from Sydney's wet eyes and stared down at the floor.

"I didn't want to leave you," he said. "I tried everything I could and I begged and pleaded but I have to leave."

"Stop trying to make excuses. Whoever you are, you can't make me believe that you are Vaughn and it was a stupid attempt to try and get me to believe that."

"Stop being so stubborn!"

Vaughn's words now echoed in the room as another pause was brought between the two. Sydney attempted to stop her sobbing but wasn't doing a very good job at it.

"Sydney, please believe me."

"I can't..." More tears rolled down her cheek. Vaughn turned away in attempt to stop himself from crying but it didn't work. Just as a tear began streaming down his face he brushed it away but more came down slowly. "How am I suppose to believe you?"

Vaughn turned back to her and she could see the pain in his eyes. She wanted to believe it was him more than anything. But she couldn't.

"We were going to name our child Isabelle if it was a girl," said Vaughn, hoping this would be proof.

"Other people know that," said Sydney.

"On the day I met you, my father's watch stopped working. When you were still working for SD-6, we use to call your house phone and have someone say "Joey's Pizza" so we could tell you that I needed to talk with you without SD-6 suspecting something. I once had a dog named Donovan. When you were five, you broke you leg on a camping trip and your father carried you for miles. You took piano lessons when you were six. Marshall collects Pez dispensers. I shot Lauren Reed and killed her. Eric Weiss was my best friend and he thought he was Houdini. I proposed to you on an airplane and you were the only woman I ever loved."

They stared at each other for a long time.

"Is that enough proof for you?"

"Vaughn..."

He walked over to her and hugged her. His arms felt good around her and she wished she could have returned the hug. Instead she kissed him on the cheek. Then he released the hug and the two kissed each other.

"Vaughn, please get me out of here."

"I can't."

"Why not Vaughn? Why am I here? Why did you leave me?"

"After I told you my name was Andre Macho I put everything at risk. But I told you because I loved you and I didn't want to keep anything from you. I knew that after I had told you that I might not see you again. And when I was contacted by Prophet Five, I was told that I had to fake my death because too many people knew who I was. Prophet Five was a small organization that my father was a part of. It was in short, a group of bounty hunters that would work for other agencies to capture wanted criminals. You, at a point became wanted by your mother. Your mother contacted Prophet Five and I was assigned by my superiors to become your handler. I had been working with the CIA for a couple of years before but I wasn't a double agent and I never did anything that put my country in danger. I simply just worked two jobs and one had to be kept a secret so I wouldn't be put in danger or be thought as a traitor. Your mother wanted us to watch over you and that is what I did until she decided to make her presence noticed. During that time I fell in love with you. And when we thought you died I was heart broken. But life had to go on. I was next required to receive information about a woman named Lauren Reed. I was forced to marry her. And then, you came back and I couldn't believe it. I wanted to hold you and leave Lauren but I was ordered to stay and keep watching her because the information we obtained about the Covenant was becoming useful. And the day when I was in the hospital, you gave me water with a chemical in it. This chemical was put in by Prophet Five and I knew it was going to be there. This chemical caused my body to stop functioning fully and it put me in some sort of coma that made it seem like I had died when in reality I could be easily revived by another chemical that reverses the affects. So after I had been buried I was dug up and my body was taken from my coffin. I was revived and I began my work with Prophet Five again."

"Did Renee know?" asked Sydney.

"She did," answered Vaughn. "And it pained her to see you so lonely and she begged Prophet Five that she could give you some kind of hint that I was alive but they refused."

"So why is Prophet Five holding me here?" asked Sydney.

"This isn't the works of Prophet Five," said Vaughn. "After I had disappeared I was contacted by an unknown source. They told me that I was an important piece to a Rambaldi Prophecy and that it involved you. I set up a meeting with the contact and I was told about Rambaldi's Forgotten Prophecy."

"What does the Prophecy say?" asked Sydney.

"I have been told not to tell you but you'll find out," explained Vaughn.

"What do you mean you can't tell me? Who told you not to?"

"I'm sorry Sydney but I can't answer all your questions. You will find out I promise."

"Vaughn I'm scared."

Vaughn sat down on the bed and held her tied hand. "You have to be strong Sydney. Be strong for me and our child."

Sydney felt more tears coming down her cheek. "Is it alright if I'm untied? I'm getting really uncomfortable. But I swear, to whoever is behind that glass I won't do anything. I just don't want to be tied down."

Vaughn turned to the glass and stared at it for a moment. He then turned back to Sydney and answered her. "Of course." He untied her hands and then feet. She sat up and moved her wrists and ankles in a circle.

"Better?"

"Yeah. Thank you."

She hugged him, now that she was able to and he held her close. He then put his hands on her belly. She smiled and felt warmth and happiness although she was still frightened.

"He's kicking," said Vaughn.

"He?" asked Sydney.

He realized what he had said and caught himself. "Well maybe she, I'm not sure."

Sydney stared at him puzzled for a moment but he averted his eyes.

"If our child did turn out to be a boy," he said, "what would you like to name it?"

This changed the mood. Sydney smiled. "I don't know."

"Well I decided on Isabelle, I think you should decide on the boy's name."

Sydney pondered for a moment.

"How about Ethan?" asked Sydney.

"That's a good name," said Vaughn, smiling. "I missed you, so much."

Sydney looked from her stomach to him. "I missed you too."

"We always find each other."

Arvin Sloane reached inside the box. For a second, Rachel thought he was going to pull out a gun. But from inside the box he pulled out a large tan colored paper. The paper was rolled into a cylinder. He placed the cylinder onto the table and then he grabbed another piece of paper from inside which was laminated and white. He slowly passed both papers over to Jack.

Jack looked at Sloane for a while and Sloane held his gaze with him. Then Jack turned to the cylinder roll of paper and took it in his hands.

"I assume this is it?" asked Jack.

"Yes," answered Sloane. "Be careful with it," he added.

Jack unrolled the large paper ad then spread it out on the table. It was Rambaldi's prophetic work. His writings were in a different language that Jack had not seen before. There were twelve bold and large titles and words that were more miniature underneath the titles. Then at the bottom center was another large title and more smaller sized words that seemed to be listed. But Jack did not pay attention to these writings. What he noticed was a large sketch in the middle of the paper. Drawn by Rambaldi himself on the Forgotten Prophecy was a life-like illustration of a naked child who was attached to an umbilical cord which seem to fade away on the paper. The baby's large eyes seemed to be looking straight at Jack and although so young it seemed so wise already.

"This..." muttered Jack. "This is my grandchild."

Nobody said anything. There was an elongated pause between the group as Jack continued to stare at this piece of art. Then after, Jack took the laminated paper he looked at it and could see it was the translation.

On the top it read: "The Forgotten Prophecy". Jack began reading the prophecy out loud, first beginning with the description of the Twelve Disciples.

"The Forgotten Prophecy," Jack began. "The Chosen One will give birth to her first and only offspring. But what has been Forgotten is that I, Milo Rambaldi, will be the bearing that will release from The Chosen One's womb. I, Milo Rambaldi will come again. I will not know my importance when reborn nor will I know who I am. But, once injected with the serum, on my birth date, when I have reached the age of four, I will scribe down the location of Immortality. Below are my Twelve Disciples who are my most loyal followers and will be the first twelve to achieve Immortality and they will be the Twelve to help me recollect who I am."

Jack paused and turned to Sloane who was watching Jack as was Rachel, Dixon, Grace, and Marshall who occasionally looked down at the copy of the original Prophecy. There was an eerie feeling throughout the room that everybody could feel. Jack turned back to the paper.

"The Descendent," he read. "The most important of the Twelve Disciples is The Descendent who is the oldest living relative to me and who has found this Forgotten Prophecy. Their connections with the Chosen One go much deeper than this Prophecy. The Descendent will be the second Disciple to acquire Immortality." Jack stopped and turned back to Sloane. "And you said you didn't know who this is?"

"No," answered Sloane. "All I know is that I am The Gatherer, Sydney is The Chosen One, and Nadia is The Passenger."

Jack read on. "The Eternal. The first of the Twelve Disciples who will gain Immortality is The Eternal. This woman has acquired immortality far before any of the Twelve Disciples have and she will not gain Immortality through my Rebirth. But she will work to help the other Twelve Disciples gain Immortality and for me to be born again."

"So there's a person," said Rachel, "in this world, who already is immortal?"

"So claims Rambaldi," answered Sloane.

"The Deliverer," continued Jack. "This woman who is the sister to The Eternal will free me from the womb of The Chosen One. After she releases me and brings me into the air of the world, The Chosen One will die but I will be the one to kill her before I am an hour old." Jack paused again, not believing what he was hearing and everyone could tell he was frightened.

"The Passenger," Jack proceeded. "The Passenger who is related to The Chosen One will be the second mother to I. Because of the death of The Chosen One, The Passenger will care and breast feed me.

"The Counterpart. The Counterpart is the closest to The Chosen One in identity. What the Counterpart has forgotten is that she is the rebirth of my wife. We will be reunited and we will have three children.

"The Marksman. My Godfather will be one of The Twelve Disciples known as The Marksman. During my life, we will be put in a situation where I will die and he will hear my last words. But fear not, I will come again. The Marksman will assassinate The Chosen One's father and bury him next to her."

Jack looked up. "You don't know who the Marksman is?"

"Why?" asked Arvin. "Are you scared?"

Jack did not answer but went one reading. "The Warrior. The Warrior will be the fifth Disciple to gain Immortality. He, in time will murder the most people for my protection including relatives and companions of The Chosen One so they will not get to me and take me away from my responsibility. Two men will come incredibly close in kidnaping me. One will be the father of The Chosen One, who will be murdered by The Marksman and the other will be a man very close to The Chosen One who she has lied to greatly in the past.

"The Messenger. The last Disciple to see The Chosen One alive will be The Messenger. He will also be the last one to hear The Chosen's ones sacred words and voice along with The Deliverer. The message will be carried on through The Messenger.

"The Keeper. The Keeper will gather a piece of The Chosen One's DNA by order of The Descendent. This DNA will allow a clone of The Chosen One to be made by The Keeper who holds an unique artifact of mine. The cloned Chosen One will be used after I die. She will have sex again and will have me. I will appear almost identical to my first reincarnation and I will continue to make Prophecies and I will teacher my followers new works as I grow older but I will still refuse Immortality. The Keeper will be named my Godmother."

"The Gatherer."

The group glanced at Sloane who ignored their gazes.

"The Gatherer will be the one to bring The Chosen One to the other eleven Disciples. He will be the father of the Passenger and is one of my most important followers. He will be the fourth Disciple to gain Immortality.

"The Guardian. The Guardian is my biological father. He will have sex a second time so my clone can be created. Without him or The Chosen One I would not be alive... He will be the seventh to gain Immortality..."

"You lied," said Grace.

Jack had already turned to Sloane.

"Why did you lie, Arvin?" asked Jack.

Arvin just looked at Jack. "I wouldn't call it a lie, I'd call it a mistake."

"Are there anymore mistakes that you'd like to fix before my fist collides with your face?"

"Is that a threat?" asked Arvin.

"It most certainly is," answered Jack.

"So you knew," interjected Dixon, "You knew this whole time that Michael Vaughn was alive?"

"Well the Prophecy seems to claim he is alive," said Arvin. "But like you said, Jack, Rambaldi has been wrong on countless occasions." He smirked.

Jack turned away from Sloane and went back to the document.

"The Matriarch," said Jack. "The third disciple to gain Immortality will be The Matriarch. She is my grandmother, The Chosen One's mother, and another loyal follower who will become one of the strongest women in our small world. She will care for me the most and will have me grow and develop properly until my death." Jack turned to Sloane. "You son a bitch." He punched Sloane across his face as hard as he could. Sloane fell to the floor and began bleeding. "You knew Irina was apart of this and you kept it from me! You don't understand what that woman is capable of. And now she thinks she'll be granted immortality by risking her daughter's life!"

"It's inevitable Jack!" yelled Sloane.

"It's not if I say it's not," Jack said and he punched Arvin Sloane a second time, knocking him out.

Vaughn opened his eyes and saw the Rambaldi symbol above him. He turned to his side and saw Sydney sleeping. She looked so happy dreaming. He sat up and tried not to wake her. He sat on the bed briefly and was surprised that he was allowed to stay there so long. How long had he been asleep?

He turned back to the peaceful Sydney. He could almost see a small smirk across her face as she dreamed. All of this felt like past times where everything seemed perfect. He loved the feeling of getting up in the morning and seeing her. But those days had long been gone. And they weren't coming back.

He wished it didn't have to happen like this. If he only knew Sydney would have died giving birth then he would have never gotten her pregnant. And now he ultimately felt that this was all his fault.

Slowly, a tear ran down his cheek. It was warm in comparison to the temperature of the room and it stung his eye. And then more flooded downward. And it hurt him to realize that soon he would never be able to lay next to Sydney again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII**

**THE PACIFIC OCEAN**

Without opening her eyes Sydney reached to feel Vaughn's body. But all she felt was a mattress. She opened her eyes and realized he had left. She sat up in hope that he'd be in the room with her still. He was but they weren't alone.

The first thing Sydney noticed was the amount of bodies in the room. Quickly afterwards she recognized their faces. They all stood staring at her. Most wore a dark set of clothing. Some arms were crossed and few stood with their hands in their pockets.

At the far left stood Julian Sark, arms in pockets with the same simple face he always made. There was a slight grin on his face as he stood at Sydney. He studied her intently with his cold eyes. He wore a tie-less suit with the top three buttons undone.

Slightly in front of him and to his left was Anna Espinosa, Sydney's long rival. Her lips were violet red and stood out as always. Her arms were crossed and she leaned slightly on one leg.

Next to her was Renee. She looked almost ashamed and when Sydney's eyes met her's, she turned away. She was full of regret. And to think Sydney trusted her and helped her. Sydney did not have to words to say anything to her. She betrayed her.

Following Renee was a woman Sydney thought had been killed. But not she stood there in the flesh, her black hair dangling down elegantly. She was Sydney's aunt and her name was Elena Derevko. Her face was emotionless while staring.

Her sister, Katya stood right next to her smirking and Sydney thought of hundreds of reasons why she had that emotion on her face. She had changed so little since the last time Sydney saw her. Her hair had grown slightly from its once very short form but other than that she had not aged younger nor older.

Next to Katya was a man dressed in an expensive suit that Sydney did not know. His arms were crossed and he too was smirking. He wore sunglasses as well but his eyes were slightly visible through them. He had a stubble around his face which was a similar to the color of his brown hair.

There was another man Sydney did not know as well. He had shaved black hair that resembled an army recruit. His five o'clock shadow was visible as he stood there, smoking a cigarette. His facial features were strong and prominent and he was very brawny.

Then Sydney eyes came in contact with someone she never thought she'd see again. Irina Derevko stood in front of the whole group staring at Sydney. She was dressed professionally as if ready for an important meeting. Her dark brown hair was done up messily yet it looked neat somehow and it was probably intentionally styled this way.

Irina stood next to Vaughn who, like Renee, did not want to keep eye contact with Sydney. The room was silent for a while. Sark directed his gaze briefly at Irina, waiting for her to say something but she didn't. Anna did the same.

Sydney broke the silence first.

"What is this?" she asked at first directing it towards her mother then she gazed through the whole group. "Vaughn?" He turned away to the ground. "What's going on?"

"How do you feel?" asked Irina.

"How do I feel?" asked Sydney. "Right now I feel a bit cornered and uneasy."

"And how's the baby?" asked Irina.

Sydney stared puzzled at her mother. "The baby? The baby's fine."

"Good," said Irina.

"What am I doing here? Why are you all here?"

"Oh we're not all here," said Irina. "Who else are we missing, Sloane and Nadia? Oh and..."

"Why am I here?"

"You'll get answers, Sydney. But first I'd like to introduce you to a couple of people." Irina turned her head to the man in sunglasses. "That man Sydney is your uncle, Alexander."

"What?" asked Sydney.

"And the man next to him," Irina glanced at the man smoking the cigarette, "Is your other uncle, Cain. Put that cigarette out, it's bad for the child." He obeyed.

"I have uncles?" asked Sydney.

"You have cousins," announced Cain as his foot stepped on the cigarette.

"I'll explain this all in good time," said Irina, "but I'm sure you'd like to know why you are here. Sydney, you never truly believed you were the Chosen One. In fact, you were never really sure what being the Chosen One meant. But you will learn now how important you are." Irina paused briefly and then continued. "The child you are bearing is of great significance. He is the reincarnation of Rambaldi."

"You can't believe that," said Sydney. "How can you believe that? Vaughn?"

"Sydney, you never truly believed in Rambaldi but it is time you did. You're child will be Rambaldi. And through him we will gain immortality," stated Irina.

"My child is not Rambaldi. Vaughn! Don't do this! What have they done to you? Can't you see? This isn't real! Rambaldi is a lie! Don't believe..."

"Rambaldi is life!" interjected Irina. "He is the giver of life."

"You're not going to touch my baby!" screamed Sydney. "I'll kill you, you son of a bitch."

"That's no way to talk to your mother," said Alexander.

"Sydney, you have no choice. Your child will be born and you will die."

"You're going to kill me?"

"No. You will die after giving birth."

"How long have you known this? Vaughn did you know?" She began sobbing.

"He did not know," said Irina.

"But you knew! You knew all along! And you were willing to sacrifice me, your daughter..."

"For my grandson," interrupted Irina. "Sydney, I did not know all along."

"But you're behind this all."

"No I'm not."

"I am." Only the voice was heard. A voice of a woman. And the woman stepped from behind Cain and out in front with Irina. She was old with short gray hair. She was thin and slightly shorter than Irina. She wore navy blue pants along with a blue sports coat. She wore no jewelry or makeup and appeared quite plain.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I, my dear,"said the old woman, "am your grandmother." As Sydney stared at the old woman she could see all three of the Derevko sisters in her. She had Irina's posture and speech. Katya's face and hair and Elena's dark eyes and presence. "I was, as you say, 'behind this'. I am the leader of the Twelve Disciples and to Rambaldi I am known as the Descendant. I have been watching you from afar for many years, my child. You, I must say, have to grown to be a respectable woman. You were always quite stubborn, I can't blame you though, it's a female Derevko trait. I knew before you were born that you would give birth to Rambaldi. I knew your importance. And now it has finally come. Your purpose will be fulfilled."

"You can't believe it."

"I do, my child. I have seen things, things you could never imagine. And I know that you are indeed the Chosen One. The one who will give birth to Rambaldi."

"No I won't."

"You will."

"I'm not due for another two weeks."

"The prophecy says you will have your child about two weeks early."

"That's..."

"This week."

"Are you going to hurt him?"

"Your child? Of course not! He is Rambaldi. He unfortunately will be killed by your father but he will return. But at the moment that is not important. Now I want you to rest. We will not strap you down unless you have to. Some of us would like to say a few words to you as well. Your sister will be here soon." She exited the room and the rest followed. The door locked.

Sydney broke down mentally and she fell on her bed.

The phone rang in the APO debriefing room. Rachel, Dixon, Tom, Marshall, Jack, and Sloane all glanced at it. Jack was the first to react, and put the phone on speaker.

"Agent Bristow," said Jack.

"Hello, Jack," said a woman's voice.

"Kelly Peyton."

"How are you?"

"Where's Sydney?"

"She's safe don't worry."

"What do you want?"

"I would just like you to tell Sloane that I have retrieved his daughter."

"Thank you," said Sloane.

"It was my pleasure. She's not awake yet but she will be."

"Where is my daughter?" asked Jack.

"I can't tell you that. I hope your last words to her weren't bitter." Kelly hung up.

"Where is she?" yelled Jack to Sloane. "WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?"

"I don't know, Jack!" he responded. "I was suppose to be extracted. I don't know the location."

"FIND OUT!"

"I can't!"

"Then you serve no purpose anymore."

Sydney looked up as she heard the door open. In walked Christoph Madeira. He look surprisingly depressed.

"So you're in on this too?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered. He shut the door. "How are you?"

"Don't bother asking," she said. He stood in silence as she sat upon the bed. "So what are you in this whole prophecy?"

"I'm an heir," he answered. "It's not an important role. I'm one of six."

"Who are the others?"

The door opened simultaneously as Sydney spoke her words. In walked five people all who looked about Sydney's age or younger. There was two girls and three boys.

"They are. They're your other cousins."

A girl stepped forward. Her hair was blonde and long. Her skin was light and fair and she was beautiful. Her complexion was very much like snow and her eyes were the color of the sky during a storm.

"I'm sorry we had to meet like this. My name is Mariska. And that is my brother Geoffrey." She nodded towards one of the three men. As Sydney glanced at him she saw that the two were twins. They both shared the light complexion. Their profiles were identical and both had the gray eyes. He was thin as well but lean. "We're Katya's children." Sydney could hear Katya's accent in her daughter.

The other girl stepped forward. She looked nothing like Mariska. Her hair was a dark brown and incredibly straight. Her bangs dangled in front of one eye and her other green one was exposed. Her skin color was white but much darker than Mariska's. She, like Mariska was thinly built but seemed to have more muscle than her.

"I'm Cecilia," her voice was no where near Mariska's soft gentle one. Cecilia's was dark and cool. "I'm Cain's daughter and these are my two brothers, Ivan, and Sylvian"

Ivan was the taller of the two. His eyes were dark brown along with his hair. It was short and similar to his father. He was also built like his father and his facial structure was similar to his. He looked simply like a younger version of Cain.

Sylvian had similar facial features to his father but his face was a little more soft. He also had dirty blonde hair. Like his siblings, his skin was tanned. He seemed fit as well and was definitely the more attractive of the two siblings.

Sydney stared at them all for moment. She couldn't believe that she, for all these years, had cousins she had never met. Although she hadn't met them before, except for Christoph, she felt as if she knew them. She felt a blood connection with them all.

"So are you all getting immortality too?" asked Sydney.

"Says the prophecy," said Christoph.

"Which means yes," said Ivan, his voice deep and brute-like.

"And you honestly believe it?"

"Of course we do," said Geoffrey with a voice similar to his sisters but more piercing.

"Do you know who they are, the people you are working with? They're traitors. All of them," warned Sydney.

"They're our parents," said Sylvian.

"It doesn't matter. Irina is my mother and she has put me in danger. She has destroyed my life and has brainwashed my only love. She took _everything _from me. Who's to say your parents won't do that to you?"

"She hasn't ruined your life," said Cain. "This is fate."

"No it isn't," said Sydney. "Rambaldi is a lie."

Just then, the door opened and in walked Sark.

"Your time's up," he said. He talked like a parent towards them even though he was the same age as them. They filed out of them room and before shutting the door Mariska looked at Sydney briefly.

"Hello Sydney," greeted Sark.

"Sark."

"It's been a while."

"Not long enough."

"I know it's hard for you to admit you missed me."

"What do you want Sark?"

"I came to apologize."

"I don't care that you've done this to me."

"No, what I'm going to apologize for is something I have not done yet. You see, Sydney, in this Prophecy I am known as The Marksman. I am your child's godfather ironically. And later on in the future I will kill your father in attempt to save your child."

"You don't believe this Sark. You were never in this for glory. All you wanted was money."

"That may be true but why not see how this turns out?" He then got up and walked to the door. "I know others want to say a few words to you so you won't be lonely long." He then exited through the door.

In her mind Sydney was trying to think of every possible way to escape from this place but nothing came. It seemed impossible. There were no windows and only one door which was most likely guarded.

The door opened and in walked Anna Espinosa.

"Get out," demanded Sydney.

"I only have a few words," she said.

"Get out."

"Sydney don't get yourself worked up. You have a child to think of."

"What do you want Anna?"

"Sydney, you don't seem to realize how important you are in this Prophecy. You are a gift. You are Rambaldi's Chosen One. Do you know what I would give to be The Chosen One?"

"Would you like to trade places?"

"Unfortunately, the closest I can get to becoming The Chosen One is being doubled into you?"

"What?"

"After you die, we will use your DNA to change me into you so that when your child is killed by his grandfather we can have him reborn."

"That is absolutely disgusting."

"Therefore I am known as The Counterpart."

"Good, now leave," commanded Sydney.

Anna walked to the door. "I would also like to let you know that I am Rambaldi's reborn wife."

"How lucky you must feel," said Sydney sarcastically. Anna shot her a glare before leaving the room.

The more Sydney heard the more she cried. Her life was ruined by Rambaldi. His scriptures and prophecies drove people to insanity and now she was to suffer because of it. She did not want to believe what she had heard. After all, she did not know whether her child was to be a boy or a girl.

Elena Derevko walked in and slammed the door.

"Hello Sydney," she said coldly.

"I thought you were dead," stated Sydney.

"Most people did. But alas, here I am."

"Why?"

"Why? Well simply because I'm immortal. I have gained immortality and I am the first of anyone in history. I am Eternal. And your mother, she already knew when she shot me in the head. I still have a scar if you can't tell." She didn't sound too happy about the mark permanently left on her forehead.

Sydney could see it clearly. It was bright and would be impossible to cover up.

"Then what do you get out of all of this?"

"To meet Rambaldi of course."

"My child isn't Rambaldi," said Sydney.

"Keep telling yourself that. It doesn't matter though does it? You won't be alive to find out." She walked across the room and her heeled boots clunked and echoed in the room. She opened the door and Sydney attempted to look out. She saw a chair against a gray wall but nothing else. Elena had turned to her left and took a step before the door had closed.

It wasn't long until Katya came into the room. Sydney really did not know what to say to her.

"How are you, Sydney?" asked Katya.

"If I said terrible would you do something about it?" asked Sydney. Katya laughed briefly.

"I'm sorry I wouldn't be able to."

There was a moment of silence between the two.

"Your daughter," said Sydney, "is very beautiful."

"Thank you," said Katya.

"Unfortunately I'll never see my child."

"I'm sorry but that's the way it is. But I guess I should tell you now that I will be delivering your child. I'll make sure everything goes well and I'll try to prevent preventable mistakes. Unfortunately your death is not preventable."

"Thank you for breaking it to me so lightly."

"I'll probably won't see you until you get into labor so therefore, goodbye and goodnight." She waited briefly for Sydney's goodbye but Sydney did not say anything. Katya left the room and also took a left.

In no time, Irina came into the room. The two stared at one another.

"I swear to you, I will kill you after all of this," promised Sydney.

"Unfortunately, you'll be dead," said Irina.

"I know all this isn't going to come true," said Sydney.

"I never thought you'd believe it," said Irina. "I wish you would just accept fate."

Sydney turned away from her mother and stared at the blank wall to her right. She was tired and did not want to here anymore.

"There's someone here to see you," said Irina. She turned to the door. It opened slowly and in walked Nadia.

"Nadia," whispered Sydney. Nadia ran over to her and hugged her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Nadia. "They told me...about the prophecy."

"You can't believe it," said Sydney.

"I don't," assured Nadia. "Are you okay?"

"I'm...overwhelmed," said Sydney.

"I'm sorry that my father..."

"Don't apologize for him."

Sydney managed to smile at Nadia despite her current emotional condition.

"Everything will be okay," said Nadia.

"I'm sorry to have to cut this short," said Irina "but Nadia I'm afraid you'll have to leave."

Nadia hugged Sydney one last time and got up and left.

"Hand it over," said Irina to Sydney.

"Hand what over?" asked Sydney.

"I saw Nadia slip the paper to you," said Irina. "Give it to me."

Sydney knew there was no use in arguing. When they hugged Nadia did in fact slip a paper to Sydney. Sydney handed the paper over to Irina who took it and unfolded it. She grinned.

"A map," said Irina. "You wouldn't have gotten very far I'm afraid. You're on a boat." Irina got up. "Well Sydney, rest and make yourself comfortable. You might be here a while."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII**

**APO**

Sloane was put in a cell with no windows. Jack at first wanted it to be completely dark but Langley forced them to keep the lights on.

Jack sat in his office with his head in his hands. The copy of the Forgotten Prophecy sat in front of him. His grandchild stared at him through the paper. If it all turned out as planned, then his grandchild would be in danger forever. He forced that idea out of his mind and convinced himself that Rambaldi and the Prophecy was a fabrication.

The rest of the group were at their own desks trying some way to make the next step but they couldn't. Everything seemed lost.

**THE PACIFIC OCEAN**

Irina thought she was so intelligent. She thought she had everything under control as she left the room leaving Sydney alone. She had never been so incorrect in her life. Irina had saw Nadia slip something to Sydney but she had only saw one of the two things.

Sydney slipped under her blankets and from her pocket pulled out a cellular phone. The map was probably in case the phone didn't work. Sydney turned it on and had discovered that the volume was on low. She glanced at the phone which she held under the blanket and saw that it had a full battery and three bars of service. She hoped it would be enough.

She began dialing the number for APO.

**APO**

Marshall was about to burst into tears right before the phone rang. He stared at it and didn't feel like picking it up. He slowly reached for it and answered.

"Hello?" he said.

"Marshall, it's Sydney," said the voice.

He could have got up and danced but instead her simply said "Oh my go...SYDNEY-where are-are you okay? Have they hurt-are you still preg..."

"Marshall trace this call now and let me speak to my father," she commanded.

"Right, of course," he ran to his computer and began tracing the call. With the phone still in his hand her ran to the door but realized the phone was on a wire when he was pulled back. "Hold on, Syd."

Marshall placed the phone down and he ran through APO almost knocking Tom over. He barged into Jack's office.

"SYDNEY IS ON THE PHONE, LINE ONE!"

Jack quickly picked up.

"Sydney?"

"Dad," she said.

"You're alright."

Tom, Dixon, and Rachel walked through the door of Jack's office as Marshall hurried back to his office.

"Dad, they think my..."

"I know Sydney, I've read the Prophecy."

"Dad, I need to get out of her."

"Do you know where you are?"

"I'm in a room on a boat," said Sydney. "That's all I know. Dad...everyone is here."

"What do you mean everyone?"

"Every criminal, every Derevko, everyone is on this boat."

"We'll get you out, is Marshall tracking the call?"

"I told him to."

"How did you get to a phone?"

"Nadia slipped me one."

"She's there?"

"Yes."

"Gordon Dean and Kelly Peyton must also be there."

"Dad, my grandmother, your mother-in-law...she's alive."

"She's what?"

"I saw her. She's behind this."

"Marina...She was presumed dead."

"Elena is alive too. And I've met my uncles and cousins."

"All of them were presumed dead."

"There not. Dad, I'm scared."

"Sydney, I promise you I will get you out of there. You're not going to die and your baby will be fine."

Marshall came charging back in the room.

"I have the coordinates!"

"Sydney, we found you, we'll be there soon, okay?" said Jack. But Sydney did not respond. There was silence on the other side. "Sydney?" Jack called but again there was no answer. Jack hung up and hoped that he wouldn't be too late.

**PACIFIC OCEAN**

Sydney's grandmother had walked in because of suspicion. She was simply looking through the glass to check up on Sydney. She noticed Sydney was almost completely covered while laying in bed.

Marina Derevko walked to the door and quietly opened it. It did not make a sound. She shut the door behind her and approached the bed. As she drew near, she heard Sydney speaking.

"...mother, your..." Sydney's grandmother drew closer to hear but her words were nearly inaudible through her sobs.

"Dad, I'm scared." She heard Sydney say clearly. Marina crept forward and ripped off the covers. She saw Sydney with and phone to her ear. Marina leapt forward and snatched the phone. She put the phone to her ear and heard: "We found you." She hung up the phone and glared at Sydney.

"Where did you get this?" asked Marina.

"I had it," lied Sydney.

"No you didn't," said Marina. "Who gave this to you?"

"Nobody, I had it, you obviously didn't search me completely." Sydney smirked.

Marina slapped Sydney across the face.

"If you weren't pregnant I would have done worse," declared Marina. She stomped our of the room and locked the door behind her. She took a left and walked down a hall. Marina turned on her first right and headed forward. She reached a large door and opened it. Inside was a commodious room with a oval shaped table with twelve chairs. It was unoccupied.

She walked over to a wall where an intercom was attached. She pressed a dark red button on it and spoke into the speaker.

"Everyone will report to the debriefing room, now," ordered Marina. She released the red button and sat down in a chair.

Soon everyone began entering the room including ten of the Disciples, Kelly Peyton, Gordon Dean, Mr. Angle, Alison Doren, Marina's grandchildren, and ten guards. The room was completely filled. The Disciples took their chairs. Because of the absence of Sloane, Gordon Dean sat in his seat. The rest stood.

Marina took the cellular phone and tossed it to the middle of the table. The group stared at it, some confused.

"Who's phone is that?" asked Marina as gently and kindly as possible.

Gordon Dean spoke up. "I'm pretty sure that's my phone." He took a closer look. "Yes that's mine."

"Good," said Marina cordially. With one swift movement, she pulled out a pistol and fired it at Gordon Dean. The bullet hit his stomach. He looked down at his suit as blood seeped through. He then turned back to Marina. She shot him again, this time, in the cheek, scraping away the left side of this face along with parts of his ear. He fell to the floor and died.

"Now that's settled," said Marina. "I found Gordon Dean's phone with Sydney just this moment. I believe she was speaking to her father. I would like to let you all know that they have found our location."

People in the room glanced at one another in shock and uneasiness. Some hearts sunk in worriment.

"We must fulfill the Forgotten Prophecy," ordered Marina. "I want everyone ready for their approach. Men," she spoke to the heavily armored troops who stood mostly on deck, "I want you to load the machine guns and I want two of you to man the bazookas. Sark, Alison, Kelly, Angle, and Anna, you five will be on deck with them. Alexander and Cain I want you right below deck. Irina, Katya, and Elena you will guard on this floor. Mr. Vaughn, Nadia, and Renee, I will place you three in a separate room for I do not completely trust either of you three. But because you all play an important role in this Prophecy I will not kill you. You should be thankful for that. You'll be released when we have taken care of the CIA." She turned to three guards. "You three take them to room 3B" The three guards obeyed and Vaughn, Renee, and Nadia left the room. "Everyone get to your places and someone please dispose of Mr. Dean."

**ROOM 3B**

"So you gave Sydney the phone?" asked Vaughn when in the room alone with Nadia and Renee.

"Yes, I also gave her a map of the boat but Irina had saw it and took it," said Nadia. "You don't believe in the Prophecy do you?" Nadia directed the question to both Vaughn and Renee.

There was a long silence until Renee spoke up.

"I did not kidnap Sydney and I did not know about this prophecy until informed by Gordon Dean," she said. "I refused to take part in it until he showed up at the apartment and threatened me with a gun. He took me here and I was explained in detail about it. I don't really know if I believe it. I just wish that Sydney will be okay."

Nadia turned to Vaughn for his answer now.

"If I knew that this whole thing was going to happen before hand I would have never got Sydney pregnant," answered Vaughn. "I would have avoided her and kept myself away. I don't want to believe in the Prophecy but if it has to come to this then I can't prevent it."

"Yes you can," assured Nadia. "We all can."

**ABOVE THE PACIFIC**

The three CIA planes glided over the Pacific. Jack had gathered as much men as he could on their sudden mission. He was standing in a plane along with Rachel, Dixon, and Tom. With them was also at least ten more agents. The other two planes each held about fifteen more agents each.

"We're approaching the boat," yelled the pilot to Jack.

"Everyone, put your parachutes on," ordered Jack. The few who were not already suited up did so.

Rachel looked at Tom.

"You're scared, aren't you?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she answered.

"Never sky dove?" he asked.

"I bungee jumped once," she said.

"Well follow my lead," said Tom. "Jump out after I do and when you see me open my parachute, do the same."

"Okay."

Just then the back of the plane opened up for the agents to jump. Jack came to the opening first and leapt off into the air. Dixon followed and then some of the agents went. Tom took Rachel's hand as they approached the opening.

"Ready?" he asked her.

She nodded. He let go of her hand and jumped. She closed her eyes and followed. The other agents continued out of both planes.

When Rachel opened her eyes she saw through her goggles the ocean above her. The boat was merely a dot. The other agents fell below her and above her. Her heart was racing and her hair blew behind her. Wind rushed in her lungs and she kept an eye on Grace. Just then she saw a missile come off from the ship.

It flew upward and left behind a trail of gray smoke. It flew past her and she turned her head slightly. It caught hold of an agent and then collided with the plane she had exited just seconds before. The plane exploded and a ball of fire ignited in the air. She was pushed downward by the explosion. The fire caught some of the other agents.

Another missile was fired. It hit the other plane's wing and the plane began spiraling downward into the ocean. Agents leaped from the plane in hopes of surviving. In all the distraction Rachel almost forgot about Tom. She looked down and saw several parachutes open. She pulled on her pack and released her's. Her speed slowed and she began gliding downward.

She heard the shot of another missile. It made its way to the other air plane which ended up having the same fate as the first destroyed plane. Then Rachel heard guns being fired from below. She was able to see people aboard the ship firing. She saw her fellow agents remove their weapons. They two began firing.

Rachel removed her weapon and started shooting at guards near the port side of the ship. It was nearly impossible to hit them. She saw, from the corner of her eye, agents fall into the ocean from the air. It was a massacre.

She felt something hit her back and she lost grip of her weapon. She then saw that a dead agent had been shot and had collided with her. The agent fell and hit the side of the boat before landing in the ocean.

Below her, few of her agents managed to land on the boat. Jack had been one of the few. He continued firing at the other guards, first taking out the men with the large machine guns. Dixon landed safely and assisted Jack.

Rachel had caught sight of Tom again, thankfully. She followed his lead in hope of being safe. Then she heard a bullet pass her. It punctured a hole in her parachute. She began falling quickly. It wasn't long until she was fired at again. More holes were created in her parachute. She reached the boat in a terrible landing with a tattered parachute.

In pain she stood up and removed her parachute. She took out a small pistol that she had. A guard charge her, she fired at him and managed to clip him in the chest. He fell. She took his large gun. A guard fired at her and she dove behind a wall. She stood up and found herself facing Kelly Peyton.

More agents were managing to reach the boat safely but at least twenty of them had been killed or landed into the ocean. Jack continued to fire alongside Dixon. Grace had landed on the boat and removed his parachute. He joined in fighting.

Kelly was too close to Rachel for her to shoot. Kelly hit Rachel with the side of her gun and Rachel stumbled.

"Wasn't expecting you," said Kelly.

"I was hoping I wasn't going to see you," said Rachel.

Kelly aimed her weapon but Rachel kicked it out of her hand. It skidded across the deck. Kelly went after it but Rachel grabbed her and threw her. Kelly collided with the wall and Rachel aimed her gun. Kelly quickly grabbed hold of it and the two struggled with it.

They simultaneously collided with the railing. The gun fell into the ocean. Kelly pushed Rachel up against the railing and grabbed hold of her neck and began choking her. Rachel gasped for air and attempted to remove Kelly's hands from her neck with one hand while holding onto the railing with the other.

Rachel then managed to knee Peyton in the stomach. Peyton's grasp released and Rachel hit her in the stomach again with her boot. Peyton stumbled backward and lost her breath. She quickly regained her composure and charged at Rachel.

In defense, Rachel ducked and lifted Peyton from the ground. In one swift movement she tossed Kelly overboard. She grabbed hold of the last vertical railing with her right hand. Rachel crushed the hand with her boot. Kelly could not hold onto the railing any longer and she plunged into the ocean.

Rachel stopped and at first could not believe what she had done. She stared into the ocean but did not see Kelly come up. Rachel grabbed Kelly's gun which lay on the floor. She got up and turned around. Anna Espinosa stood there with her gun aimed at Rachel. She fire and the bullet barely missed Rachel. Rachel fired in retaliation and dashed off. Anna followed.

Dixon had found Sark on deck and managed to disarm him. Unfortunately, Sark did the same to him. The two were now fist fighting not too far from Rachel. Sark threw his right fist at Dixon who ducked. Dixon came up with an uppercut and Sark fell backward onto the deck.

Dixon approached him but Sark managed to lock his legs around Dixon's and trip him. Dixon fell face first. Dixon rolled onto his back but Sark leaped at him. He got on top of Dixon and began punching Dixon's face.

In the corner of his eye, Dixon saw a gun laying on the deck. It was his gun. While being beaten upon, he reached for the weapon and managed to grab hold. Unfortunately he didn't grab hold of it correctly in order to fire it so instead her smashed it into Sark's forehead.

Jack continued to fire his weapon killing whoever got in his way. He searched the deck for stairs and he soon found a door. He managed to get the time to throw open the heavy door. He found stairs and raced down them.

Grace had watched Jack dash down below deck. He ran towards the stairs and was about to go down when he was tackled from behind. He felt himself hit the floor and then a large body landing on top of him. Grace scurried to get up but was held down. He elbowed the face of the person above him and managed to crawl out from underneath. He then discovered that Mr. Angle was the man he elbowed.

Mr. Angle and Grace both stood up and kept their gazes at one another. Then Mr. Angle charged Grace. In attempt to stop him, Grace fired his weapon but missed. Mr. Angle had tackled Grace again. Grace lay on his back and he shot his weapon continuously, hoping that he'd hit the large body of Mr. Angle. But he didn't.

Angle grabbed hold of Grace's gun and ripped it out of his hands. The gun was tossed overboard. Grace hit Angle in the face and managed to get on top of him but Angle grabbed hold of Grace and tossed him backward, over his shoulders. Grace flipped in the air and landed on his back.

Rachel was no match for Anna. She roundhouse kicked Rachel, making her boot collide with Rachel's face. Rachel fell to the floor and began bleeding.

"You're a sad excuse for an agent," spat Anna. She grabbed hold of Rachel's hair and lifted her from the deck. She turned Rachel around to face her. She drew back her fist but Rachel head butted her and Anna stumbled backward. Rachel clutched her head and decided never to do that again.

Sark had Dixon's arm twisted behind his back and Dixon felt it was going to break in any moment. Dixon managed to grab hold of Sark's head and toss him over his back. Sark's back collided with the deck and Dixon grabbed him from behind and tossed him. Sark then collided with the railing. Dixon began to approach Sark when a voice was heard.

"Don't move," it said.

Dixon turned and saw Alison Doren, gun in hand.

"Hello," she greeted. Sark came behind Dixon and knocked him in the back of the head with his elbow. Dixon fell to the ground. Alison approached and aimed her gun and Dixon's bleeding head.

As she was about to fire and bullet came by and shot her in the hand. He hand was blown off her wrist. She fell to the ground clutching her wrist. Sark turned and saw that Rachel was approaching quickly, weapon in hand. Rachel fired at Sark. He ran off and left Alison screaming and crying in pain on the deck. Rachel came over and saw what she had done to Alison. At first she felt remorse but then remembered that she was going to kill Dixon. Rachel fired at Alison and killed her.

Rachel helped Dixon up.

"Are you alright," ask Rachel.

"I'm fine," Dixon answered.

"Where's Jack?" she asked.

"He might have already gone below deck," said Dixon. "Watch out!" Dixon pulled Rachel down from a bullet which was shot by Anna. Rachel aimed her weapon and shot at Anna. Anna took cover behind a wall.

"We have to head down there," said Rachel. The two stood up and raced down the deck in search of stairs. They soon found Angle and Grace fighting. Rachel took her gun and aimed it at Angle. He had caught sight of her and grabbed Tom. Rachel stopped herself from shooting.

Angle now had Grace and was using him as a human shield. His brawny arm was around Grace's neck and his other hand was holding a pistol to his head.

"You make any move and I'll blast his brains out," warned Angle.

"Rachel, don't listen, just shoot him," said Grace.

"Shut up!" commanded Angle as he tightened his arm around Grace's neck. Rachel still had her gun aimed. "Lower your weapon." Rachel did not move. "Lower your weapon!"

A shot was fired. Angle fell to the ground and behind him Jack stood with his gun aimed.

"This way," said Jack as he ran off. Grace, Rachel, and Dixon followed. The group approached a door that lead to a stairway. They proceeded down the stairway, Jack first, followed by Dixon, Rachel then Grace. Then reached ground and began walking down the hall. Jack passed an intersecting hallway and was shot at. Luckily, it missed him. He leaned against the wall and Dixon did the same on the other side.

Jack looked at Dixon and nodded. The two leaned out and aimed their weapons down the hall. Alexander Derevko stood there with two pistols. He fired at them and they at him. All three missed one another.

"Tom and Rachel head down this hall and find Sydney," ordered Jack. Tom and Rachel moved through the intersecting hallway and passed Jack.

Jack turned around the corner and fired. Alexander then turned and fired. Jack took his cover behind the wall again.

"It's no use, Jack," said Dixon. "We have to..." Just then a shot was fired and it hit Dixon in the shoulder. He fell to the floor and Jack saw Sark standing there with a smoking gun. Jack heard Dixon gasping for air. Jack fired at Sark who took off down another hall.

Jack rushed over to Dixon. The bullet had lodged itself into his shoulder and he was bleeding uncontrollably.

"Stay with me Dixon," said Jack calmly.

"Jack," muttered Dixon, "Go. I'll be fine. Get Sydney."

"Tom and Rachel will do that. Now just keep breathing."

"Jack, leave. You're wasting time."

"Marcus..."

"Jack I've taken orders from you all my life and now I'm giving you an order. Leave."

Jack contemplated what to do. He stood up and ran down the hall.

"I'll be right back," said Jack. He ran off.

Dixon attempted to straighten himself up when high heeled boots were heard coming down the hall. Dixon looked up and saw Anna Espinosa standing over him. She smiled and kneeled down. She brought her scarlet red lips to his cheek and kissed it. She then stood up pulled out a gun and shot him in the heart. Dixon died instantly.

Tom continued to run down the hall with Rachel following him. There were so many hallways and doors that they had no idea where to turn or what room to check and there was still a level to check below them.

They heard several more shots being fired not too far from them.

The two then split up briefly as Rachel headed down a hallway to her left and Tom to his right. Rachel opened several doors but found nothing. Tom opened the doors down his hallway and found nothing. He turned to Rachel and Rachel turned to him.

"Nothing," she said.

"Same," said Tom.

"Tom! Watch out!" yelled Rachel but her warning came too late. Tom was knocked down to the ground by Cain Derevko. Rachel fired down at Cain but Cain jumped into one of the room's Tom had opened. Rachel ran towards Tom but was stopped when Cain leaned out and fired at Rachel. A bullet hit her arm and she went down, clutching it.

He came out of the room and approached Rachel but Tom grabbed his foot and pulled him down. The two brawled for a while on the ground before Cain got up and lifted Tom and threw him against a wall of the narrow hallway.

Rachel still lay on the floor bleeding from her arm. She watched Tom struggle with Cain but she couldn't move.

Tom threw his fist at Cain who stepped back. He tried a second time but missed again and Cain threw his massive fist at Tom's head. Tom fell to the ground a second time. While on the ground Tom kicked Cain's knee caps. Cain let out a cry of pain.

Jack ran down the hall but was stopped by Alexander who fired two bullets from each of his pistols at Jack. Jack fired back in retaliation. Both missed. Alexander fled down a hallway and Jack followed. He fired his gun at the fleeing Alexander but couldn't target him. He turned and corner and Jack followed and was knocked in the face by Alexander's elbow. He stumbled back, nose bleeding.

Alexander aimed both his weapons at him. Jack took Alexander's wrist and twisted it causing one gun to fall out of his hand. Jack then, as swiftly as possible, grabbed his other arm and twisted around his back. He then snatched the gun from Alexander's hand and aimed it at him.

"Where's Sydney?" asked Jack.

"I don't know," said Alexander with his hands up.

"Tell me where she is or I'll shoot your balls off," warned Jack.

"She's down below," said Alexander. "In a room near the starboard side."

"Don't move Jack," said a voice.

Jack looked over his shoulder and Anna Espinosa was standing there with her gun aimed.

"Drop your weapon," she commanded. Jack obeyed. She walked up to him and put the scope of the gun to the back of his head. Jack quickly spun and grabbed her arm. He twisted it and aimed the gun at her stomach. Before he could fire Alexander had turned around and grabbed Jack around the neck. Jack was pulled back but he still had the gun in his hand. He attempted to shoot at Alexander holding him but he missed. He fired at Anna who he also missed. She picked up one of the pistols on the ground and shot. Jack spun around in time so that the bullet shot Alexander in the leg.

He screamed in pain and let go of Jack who ran off.

"You bitch!" Alexander yelled at Anna. He picked up the pistol on the ground and shot both her legs, she fell to the floor but did not die. The two stayed in the hallway both bleeding. After a moment, Alexander got up on one foot and hurried off to the medical room on the port side. Anna attempted to crawl there.

Grace threw his right fist with all his power at Cain. Cain managed to dodge the fist. He then grabbed Tom's fist in his massive hand and he crushed it. His bones were heard cracking. Tom elbowed him in the face and Cain released his crushing grasp. Tom had no time to fight back for he was in too much pain. He clutched his broken hand. He turned and attempted to flee when Cain's arm went around Tom's neck and then his other hand went under his chin. In one swift movement, Cain snapped Tom's neck.

Rachel watched it happen and she screamed mournfully. She began crying as Cain watched his victim below him. He put his boot to Tom's face and broke his nose. Rachel let out another cry.

Cain limped over to her. His knee caps still hurt. He stood towering over the sobbing Rachel.

"I might as well do the same to you," he said. He leaned down to grab her but she too kicked him in the kneecaps. He stumbled down and she got up, still holding her arm. She ran down the hall, tears flooding her eyes.

Jack found another stairway leading downward. He rushed down the stairs and reached the third level. He continued down a hall towards the starboard side. As he was running the lights on the floor turned off. He stopped in his tracks and he couldn't see a thing except for the small windows which let in so little light. He continued down the hall, quietly walking.

At the sight of Sark, Rachel fled down another corner. She was unarmed and she knew he wasn't. Her arm pained her and blood had stained the left sleeve of her shirt completely along with her hand. Sark eventually caught up to her and grabbed her.

She screamed and he pinned her against the wall.

"And where do you think you're going?" he asked her.

"Let go of me!" she demanded.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," he said.

"Then kill me!" she said.

"Why? Do you want to die, Rachel?"

"You're going to kill me anyway, you might as well do it." More tears ran down her face. Sark brushed them away.

"There, there," said Sark. "I'm not going to kill you. Why don't you come with me."

Jack had only walked about ten paces before someone came up behind him and hit him in the back of his head. He fell to the ground and shot his gun into the darkness in hopes of hitting his attacker. The bullets echoed in the hall but no other noise was heard. The blow to the back of his head caused him a great deal of pain.

"Who's there?" he called. His voice echoed. He was completely blind and had almost no way of protecting himself. There were very few times in his life when Jack Bristow had trembled because he was absolutely frightened. Unfortunately, this was one of those times.


	9. Chapter 9

**Quick Author's Note: **I would like to thank everyone who has submitted a review for this story. Honestly, your reviews is what keep me writing so thank you tremendously. I'd very much appreciate more reviews and the more reviews, the quicker I will update. I'd also like to try and beat the number of reviews I had for my first story. Thanks again!

**Chapter IX**

Marina reached the electrical box and opened it. She saw that someone had turned off all the lights on the third floor. She pushed up the switch and the lights on the third floor returned. She turned off the flashlight which she had carried to find her way and looked around the room. Nobody was in there. She exited and shut the door behind her. She locked it and walked off toward the starboard side.

* * *

Jack saw his attacker. Michael Vaughn stood over him. Behind him was Nadia and Renee. 

"Jack?" said Vaughn.

"What's going on?" asked Jack.

"We were locked up in a room. We managed to escape through a vent," explained Vaughn. "We reached the electrical box and turned it off in hopes that we could make it to Sydney and help her escape without being seen. We thought you were guard."

Vaughn helped Jack up. "We have to get to Sydney," said Jack. Vaughn continued down the hall and the rest followed.

"Who else is here?"

"We had a total of forty agents but many of them died. Rachel, Tom, and Dixon were also here. Dixon was shot but he was alive when I last saw him. Tom and Rachel had gone off to find Sydney before I did. You haven't seen them yet?"

"No," answered Vaughn. "Have you killed any of them?"

"Angle is dead. I saw Alison dead."

"So none of the Disciples have been killed?" asked Renee.

"No," answered Jack.

"Of course they haven't." The group stopped in their tracks and saw Elena Derevko standing with her arms folded. "I thought you three were locked up. We knew we shouldn't have trusted you."

"Elena step out of our way," said Nadia.

"Or what?" she asked. "Are you going to shoot me? I'm immortal. You know that. I survived a shot to my head, I can survive a shot anywhere else."

"Well, we'll just have to see," said Jack. He fired his gun at Elena several times. The first time it hit her left shoulder. The second bullet hit her lower stomach and the third hit her heart. She fell to the floor.

"Is she..." Nadia's voice trailed off.

"She is," said Renee.

"That means that the Prophecy isn't real, doesn't it?"

"We'll have to wait and see," answered Jack.

* * *

Sark brought Rachel to the room where Vaughn, Renee, and Nadia were being held. He opened the door and called. 

"You have a visitor," he said. He waited but nobody came into the living room. "Hello?" He put Rachel on the couch, who was in too much pain to move, and searched the small quarters in the living room, bedrooms, and bathroom. There was nobody in there but him and Rachel. He exited the room in a rush and did not shut the door. Rachel was left on the couch.

She got up and went into the bathroom. She searched the cupboard and found a medical wrap. She managed to rip it open and tie it around her wound. In exhaust, she fell to the floor and put her back against the wall. The room around her was spinning so she closed her eyes.

* * *

Alexander reached the medical room and obtained a medical wrap. He had left a great deal of blood through the several hallways he traveled. He wrapped his leg and attempted to stand on it. It still hurt but he was able to jog slightly on it. He exited the room and saw Anna making her way to the medical room by crawling. She left a trail of blood the whole way. Alexander didn't bother to help her. 

Sark met up with Cain and told him that Vaughn, Renee and Nadia had escaped. Cain responded by saying, "Where is that blonde bitch?"

"You mean Rachel?" asked Sark.

"Yeah," he answered.

"I left her in the room 3B," answered Sark. "Why?"

"She busted my kneecaps and I need to...talk with her," he smirked.

"You won't lay a finger on her," said Sark.

"And who's going to stop me?"

"She's already hurt, leave her alone."

Cain shoved Sark to the ground. "I'll do whatever I want with her."

"No you won't." Sark removed a pistol and pointed it at Cain. He laughed.

"You won't shoot me, you know what the Prophecy says. I am going to be immortal." Sark lowered his gun. "Good," said Cain. Sark stood up and was barely on his feet for five seconds before Cain knocked him out.

* * *

Alexander had reached the bottom level and found his sister lying dead on the ground. He stopped in shock and knelt to the floor. She was bleeding from three different spots. Her eyes were lifeless and she was not breathing. 

To him, he now knew that everything was gone. The Forgotten Prophecy was a lie. She was not immortal and he would never be. Rambaldi wasn't going to be reborn and Sydney's child was just another child. It was over and he was going to be a prisoner for life.

Unless he could escape. He ran back up the stairs to the second floor and decided he had to flee. There was a helicopter he could escape from. He just hoped it wasn't destroyed.

As he continued down the hall he saw Anna's blood trail and he stopped. If the Prophecy was not real, then he could kill her. She wasn't The Counterpart. She was just Anna Espinosa. A criminal.

He walked down to the medical room and found Anna still alive and attempting to wrap her wounds.

"Please," she breathed out. "Help me."

"I will," said Alexander. He pulled out his gun and shot her two more times, both in the chest. She stopped breathing.

* * *

Jack followed Vaughn down the hall. Right behind him was Nadia and Renee. 

"How much further?" asked Jack.

"Not very," answered Vaughn. They turned a corner and saw Katya standing there.

"I'm afraid your trip ends here, Jack," said Katya.

"We know the Prophecy isn't real, Katya," said Jack. "Elena's dead."

"Oh really?" said Katya. "Why is she standing behind you then?"

They all turned and there Elena was.

"I guess she isn't so dead after all," said Katya. "Now Jack, I'm afraid we'll have to kill you or else you'll get in the way." Katya pulled out her weapon but her arm was shot. Renee had pulled out a pistol she had took off from Elena and had fired at Katya. Her gun was now on the ground and she was bleeding from her forearm.

"Elena may be immortal but I won't let you be," said Renee. Renee fired again and clipped Katya. She swallowed hard and then fell onto her face.

Elena went after Renee but was stopped by Nadia, who kicked her in the stomach. Elena fell backward.

"Tie her some where," ordered Jack.

The group moved Elena into a storage closet. They found rope for an anchor and they tied her to a pole. She continued screaming as they shut the door. The group continued down the hall, past Katya.

* * *

Cain made his way to the room. The door was opened and he became enraged. He charged into the room and looked around the living room but did not find Rachel. He walked into the bedroom and she still was not found. 

He made his way to the bathroom and found some blood on the ground but Rachel's body was nowhere. He turned around and stepped into the living room where Rachel had a gun aimed at him.

He laughed at her. "You know you aren't going to shoot me," he said just like he said to Sark previously. "You've heard of the Prophecy. I'm going to gain immortality. I will never die."

"I think you looked into this whole Prophecy thing a little too much," said Rachel. She fired three times at Cain and all three hit his massive chest. He fell to his knees and watched the blood pour from his body. He then turned to Rachel in disbelief and dropped face first to the living room floor. Two Derevkos were now dead.

* * *

She stood in their way. They were only about ten feet away from the room Sydney was in. But they couldn't reach her. Marina Derevko stood there with two pistols in her hands aimed at the four of them. 

"It's over, Marina," said Jack. "Katya is dead, the Prophecy is a lie. It's over."

"No it's not," she denied.. "The Prophecy was incorrect. Rambaldi will still be born and I will gain immortality. It is not over."

"You can't truly believe that my child will be Rambaldi," said Vaughn.

"Yes I do," she said. "I am Rambaldi's descendent. I have planned this all my life and neither one of you will stop me. Put your guns down Renee or I'll shoot you."

"You won't," said Renee. "I am part of the Prophecy."

"You aren't," she said. "You're a pawn. Like you said the Prophecy is a lie. Now, put your guns down." Renee refused. Marina shot her in the shoulder. Renee faltered and then fell to the ground. "You should have obeyed me." Vaughn went to go help Renee but Marina stopped him. "Don't touch her!" Vaughn backed away. "Now, give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill her."

A bullet came flying down the hall. It hit Marina in the ribs. She screamed and twisted. She glanced down the hall. Another bullet came flying down. This one hit her in the forehead and she fell to the ground.

They glanced down the hall and saw Rachel had shot her. She rushed down to them tiredly.

"Where's Sydney?" asked Rachel.

"Down here," said Vaughn. The group went down the hall except for Nadia who crouched down to help Renee.

"Go," said Renee.

"I'll stay here," said Nadia.

"Sydney and her child are more important," Renee said. "I'll be fine." Nadia obeyed Renee and caught up with Vaughn, Jack, and Rachel.

They all ran down to the room and glanced through the window. It seemed as though they were too late.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter X**

They glanced into the room. Inside, Sydney was sitting up and legs spread apart. Her face was a bright red and she was breathing quickly. Irina stood in front of her, coaching her through the child's birth.

Jack was the first to enter the room followed by Vaughn, Nadia, and Rachel. Irina didn't even look to see who entered. Sydney was squeezing her hand.

"Irina, get away from her," ordered Jack as he aimed a gun at her.

"Jack, your grandchild is being born. I think your desire to shoot me can wait," said Irina. Jack and Vaughn both approached Sydney and Jack put his weapon away. Sydney was crying.

"Breathe, Syd," said Vaughn. He held her other hand.

"I didn't want it to happen like this," explained Sydney. "I wanted to be a normal mother and have a child in a hospital."

"Sydney," began Vaughn, "Don't worry about it. Our lives are far from normal anyway and you know I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Yes you would," she insisted.

"Sydney, I love you and I could not care where you had our child as long as I'm with you," he assured her.

"Alright Sydney," said Irina, slightly interrupting the moment but for a perfectly excusable reason. "I want you to push when I say." There was a short pause. "Push."

Sydney clenched her teeth. Sweat poured down her forehead. Through her cries and pain, the baby was removed from the womb crying. Irina cradled it. Jack took a step back but did not aim his gun. Sydney was still alive.

"Irina," Jack said, "hand over the child."

"Oh, but Jack," she said, "this is Rambaldi. This is no ordinary child."

"The prophecy isn't real, Irina. Everyone is dead," informed Jack.

"I don't care. This child is Rambaldi. The great Milo Rambaldi."

"Mom, please, just give me my child," pleaded Sydney tiredly.

"Don't you all want immortality?" asked Irina. "Don't you want to live forever?"

"Mom," said Nadia who had remained silent this whole time. "The child's a girl."

Irina turned to the child in shock and saw that Nadia was right. She turned away from everyone and the baby began crying louder.

"Mom," said Sydney. "Could I please have my daughter."

Irina walked slowly over to Sydney. "Congratulations," Irina said. She handed Sydney the child and it quieted down. Irina took a step back and stared at her grandchild. She began crying but nobody could decide if she cried because she had failed or because she was a grandmother. Vaughn touched the child's cheek and Nadia came over to it. Everyone's eyes remained on the child.

Irina, still silently crying, looked to Jack afterward. He noticed her gaze and he turned to her. They stared at one another for a long while.

"I suppose you should kill me outside this room," suggested Irina. "The gun shot will scare the child. It might ruin its hearing." There was a long silence. Sydney, Vaughn, and Nadia all looked up and waited for Jack to say something. He turned to his grandchild and without looking at Irina he spoke.

"Leave."

The word was mumbled but Irina had heard him. She did not stay to thank him nor did she kiss her daughter or granddaughter goodbye. She walked to the door and stared at a family she wished she didn't have to leave behind. A family where her daughter was an act, a piece of evidence that made Jack Bristow believed she was in love with him. And now that child, the child she never wanted was a mother and a wonderful person. She fell in love with her child but Irina knew that Sydney would learn being an agent and mother simultaneously is impossible.

Sydney was the only one who saw her mother smile before exiting the room. Whether the smile was directed toward her or accidently exposed, Sydney did not know. She watched more tears flood in her mother's eyes as she stared at a family she could have been apart of. And Sydney cried.

Through her whole life, she wanted a mother-figure but she never got one. She never had the experience of getting her nails done for the first time with her mom. She never went shopping with her mom. Her mother was not there when she fell down and scraped her leg. Her mother was not there to tell her how to be a lady. Instead, she ended up going on life threatening missions with her mother and watching her father aim a gun at her. She saw and learned about her mother's murders, about her lies, and she realized that she had become a better person without a mother figure but she would not have her daughter grow up without one.

Irina left.

* * *

Jack returned to the storage closet to find Elena still there. He brought her to the dock and tied a piece of cement around her leg. 

"Sydney named her child Isabelle," he told her as he did it. Elena made no response to Jack's statement. Jack then dropped her into the ocean.

Jack then called for an extraction. Two helicopters arrived. Sydney, Vaughn, Jack, and Nadia went in one and Renee, Tom, and Marcus went in the other. Before leaving, Jack attached an explosive device to the boat and when the helicopters were quite a distance away, he blew up the ship.

Tomas Grace, and Marcus Dixon were both given the proper burial. Dixon and Tom were buried in a cemetery. Renee was treated at a CIA hospital. Sydney made sure that she was no obtained as a criminal after through a great deal of arguments with Langley, Renee was eventually let go from the CIA and she flew back to Europe. Sydney had little contact with her but from what she learned, Renee was doing well.

Two weeks later it was discovered that Julian Sark was alive and he was up to his crimes again. Three days later, Kelly Peyton was spotted and the following week she was spotted again with Julian Sark. A week after that sighting, Alexander Derevko was seen alive. Several times he attempted to bargain with Jack for the location of his sister but Jack told him it was best that she wasn't found. He threatened Jack.

Christoph Madeira was spotted with Alexander Derevko. The CIA later discovered that they were selling nuclear weapons to countries for a great deal of money. They quickly made their way up the CIA's most wanted list.

Unfortunately, so did Ivan and Sylvian. The two were at first assumed to be the conductors of several terrorist attacks in Europe. Later, they confessed in a video which they sent to MI6. After their attacks in Europe they made their way to North America. Their damage in the United States was not as big as in Europe, luckily but they were never caught.

Geoffrey also did his share of crimes in the United States, western Europe, and eastern Asia. He obtained a great deal of wealth by sending blackmail around the world. He also managed to buy off Rambaldi artifacts from his cousin, Christoph, and he sold them generously to Asian historians. The artifacts soon became lost.

Cecilia also was found on the CIA's most wanted criminals. She at first was her own agent but had soon developed a group known as the Call. Their work mostly focused around southern Europe and Africa but have recently been involving South and Central America.

The last Mariska was seen was with her brother but she had not been accused of any crimes. She had gone missing and Sydney never heard from her again. Sydney hoped that she had taken a good path in life.

Sloane died in his cell of old age. He ate very little and did not speak at all after he discovered the Prophecy was a lie and that Sydney had gave birth to a girl. Sydney told it to his face herself.

Nadia and Weiss married and the two had twins. They bought a house in Hawaii because it was the closest thing to a Mexican Island without actually being on one (Weiss loved Nadia but he never wanted to go south of the border. She vacationed there once with him and he got food poisoning). He continued his work for several years with the White House and then he got a job in Hawaii involving the government. Nadia stayed at home with the twins.

Rachel continued to work with the CIA after APO closed down. She attempted to stay away from field work and remain at a computer but she constantly offered to help on missions. She had a boyfriend, the last time Sydney talked to her, who she was dating for almost a year.

Sydney retired from her work with the CIA and settled down with Vaughn. The two bought a house in Santa Barbara right on the beach. It was secluded and beautiful. Jack retired two years later and bought himself a house down in Florida. He frequently visited Sydney and stayed for months at a time.

Sydney had not heard from Irina directly. Frequently, Sydney received Christmas cards from her. Sydney, in return sent Christmas cards to her to an undisclosed location so she could watch Isabelle grow. Irina also never forgot Isabelle's birthday. Sydney had a feeling she'd see her again.

Life was perfect which Sydney did not believe could be possible at all. She was married to the perfect man and she had a beautiful daughter. She knew that life would still come with its conflicts but she felt that she had survived and withstood the hardest ones. She had saved the world a number of times but she learned that not just that made her a hero. Sydney Bristow was a hero because she cared, loved, and would do anything for her friends and family and she admired herself for it.

**Author's End Note: **This chapter is not the last chapter. I have a short Afterward Chapter that I will update with. I apologize for the short length of the last chapters. Thanks everyone for the reviews!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter XI:**

_**Afterward**_

_**Four Years Later**_

"GRANDPA!"

Isabelle ran as fast as her little legs could take her across the living room to the front foyer where Jack Bristow walked in one early afternoon. He came down and scooped her up into his arms and kissed her. Vaughn came into the living.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Still getting older," said Jack as he put Isabelle down.

Sydney entered the living room.

"Smells good," said Jack.

She smiled. "Thanks. I got the biggest turkey I could find." Jack came over and kissed her on the cheek. Sydney returned to the kitchen while calling, "Isabelle go wash up, more people will be coming soon."

"I am washed up," Isabelle protested.

"You wore that yesterday," Vaughn said to his daughter.

"So? It doesn't mean it's smelly," Isabelle said.

"Yes but I'm sure Aunt Nadia and Uncle Weiss want you as fresh as a daisy," said Vaughn. "Besides the twins will be dressed up nice."

"Well they won't be as dressed up as nice as me," she said as she ran off to her room.

"She's becoming as stubborn as her mother," said Jack.

"I've noticed," said Vaughn.

"Heard that," said Sydney. Vaughn and Jack walked into the kitchen.

"So Nadia and Weiss are coming by?" asked Jack.

"Yeah," answered Sydney. "Nadia's bringing the desserts."

About thirty minutes after Jack's arrival, Nadia and Weiss walked through the door. Weiss carried the twins who were two years younger than Isabelle. Nadia carried the desserts, wrapped, in her hands. Weiss placed the twins down and they ran off to find Isabelle.

"Hey Jack," greeted Weiss. The two shook hands.

"How are you?" asked Nadia, kissing Jack on the cheek after greeting Vaughn.

"I'm doing well," he answered.

Nadia brought the desserts into the kitchen and greeted her sister.

"Michael, could you set the table?" asked Sydney.

"Yup," answered Vaughn.

"Here, I'll help," said Weiss as he followed Vaughn into the dinning room.

Jack made his way to the couch and sat down. He watched the children run outside and play in the sand. He smiled as they played games and looked at seashells. And to think that four years ago he was diving out of airplanes and firing a gun. Now, he was sitting watching his beautiful grandchild. The thought of having Irina with him came into his mind but he quickly pushed it out. He hadn't seen her since Isabelle was born and he didn't want to. Or did he?

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," called Jack. He lifted himself from the couch and made his way to the door. He opened it and there stood Marshall with Carrie. Next to Carrie was a child, a bit older than Isabelle holding Carrie's hand.

"Jack," said Marshall. He hugged him warmly. "How have you been? You've met Mitchell, right?"

"Not formally," said Jack. He greeted Mitchell with a smile. He turned to Carrie. "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine," said Carrie.

"Come in," said Jack stepping aside. Mitchell ran in and saw the kids on the beach. He ran full speed and collided with the glass door.

"Mitchell, be careful," said Marshall. "Are you alright?" Marshall was about to run over to him but Carrie stopped him.

"He's fine," she assured him. Mitchell got up and opened the door and walked outside where the kids were laughing hysterically.

Sydney exited from the kitchen.

"Hey you guys!" she said with a bright smile. "I'm glad you could make it!" She hugged them.

"Smells good," said Marshall as he made his way into the kitchen and greeted Nadia, Vaughn, and Weiss.

"How have you been?" asked Sydney. "Where's Mitchell?"

"He just went outside," said Carrie.

"I wonder if he and Isabelle will remember each other," said Sydney.

"He has a pretty good memory, unlike his father," informed Carrie. Sydney smiled. "Is Rachel coming?"

"She can't," replied Sydney disappointedly. "She's seeing her family and her job as a _banker _runs a tight schedule."

"Sounds familiar," said Jack.

"Who else is coming?" asked Carrie.

"Just Will," answered Sydney.

"How's he doing?" she asked.

"Pretty good last time I talked to him. He has a girlfriend who he's going to propose to on Christmas. She can't come though."

"Does he still work on construction?" asked Carrie.

"I'm pretty sure, yeah," answered Sydney.

"Food's almost ready," called Nadia. The door bell rang. Sydney went to it and opened it. Will stood there. He hadn't changed very much.

"Hey," said Sydney. She hugged him warmly.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Wonderful," she answered, releasing the hug. "How about yourself?" She stepped aside and let Will in. She shut the door behind him.

"Not too bad," he answered.

The others greeted Will and soon dinner was ready and set on the table. Sydney called the kids in. They all took their seats at the large table in the dinning room and began serving one another their appetizing Thanksgiving dinner.

The kids had finished their dinner and ran off to play. The adults sat at the table and talked about the past, the present, and the future.

"Do you remember that time, Jack," began Marshall, "you had me take out a man's eye with a spork?" Marshall began laughing.

"I unfortunately do," answered Jack.

"I remember how slimy and..."

"Marshall not at the table," said Carrie.

Eventually Sydney stood up to take the plates to the kitchen.

"Let me help," said Nadia.

"I've got it, you stay," assured Sydney. She took the plates to the kitchen by herself. She carried them to the sink and while briefly washing them she gazed at the ocean outside. This had to be one of the best days she could ever ask for. Everyone she loved and cared about was here and everyone was happy. Everyone was safe.

Sydney turned back down to the plates and scrubbed a bit more.

"Sydney, hurry it up!" called Will. "I'm telling them the story when I first found out you were an agent."

"You should have seen his face!" called back Sydney. "I'll be there in a minute." She turned back to the dishes but as she did so something caught her eye. It was outside. She looked up and saw a person standing on the beach.

It was Irina. She stared at Sydney as her eyes widened in disbelief. She left the sink and walked to the slider door but when she got there and looked out onto the beach Irina had disappeared. Sydney stared out for a while and decided she was hallucinating.

Just then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around and was ready to attack but saw Vaughn standing there. He jumped back a bit.

Sydney sighed. "You scared me."

"Is everything okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah,"answered Sydney.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Positive," she replied.

"Come back to the dinning room," he said.

"I will, I just have a couple more dishes."

She returned to the kitchen and continued with the dishes. She glanced frequently out the window and couldn't push aside what she thought she saw. She finished up the dishes when Isabelle ran into the kitchen.

"Mommy," she said.

"Yes honey?" Sydney said.

"Grandma's outside."

**-The End**-

**Author's Endnote: **So this is the end of _Family Reunion. _I'm glad to see that so many liked it and I'd like to thank everyone who managed to write a review for it. It made me feel a lot better about myself as a writer.

I actually just finished a chapter for my next _Alias _fic. It is not a sequel and I'm about eighty percent sure that there won't be a sequel to _Family Reunion_. There is still a chance though. The next story will follow Isabelle and Jack, Sydney's children, as adults as they learn secrets about their family that they never knew. I don't want to give too much away so I won't say anything else.

For anyone who watches Law and Order: SVU and/or Prison Break, I also have a plot idea for each therefore, I will be attempting to write all three simultaneously or at least two at a time. My first priority is probably my next _Alias _fic.

Once again, thank you everyone and I hope to read your reviews again when my second _Alias _fic is up. Have a great and safe summer!


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